Mineral resources minister’s powers backed
Portfolio committee presses on with mineral resources bill changes
Parliament’s portfolio committee on mineral resources has dismissed President Jacob Zuma’s objections to aspects of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill. Critics of the bill say it gives the minister of mineral resources too much power to change the mining charter without consulting Parliament. They fear it allows the minister to ban exports and amend or repeal industrial charters, codes and standards. Zuma raised his objections in January 2015 in a letter to the committee when he sent the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. He stated that sections 26 2B and 3 of the amendment bill appeared to be inconsistent with SA’s obligations to two trade and tariff agreements. In its current form it did not pass constitutional muster, he said. The bill elevated the Codes of Good Practice for the South African Minerals Industry, the Housing and Living Condition Standards for the Minerals Industry and the Amended Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter f...
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