Chamber of Mines accuses department of freezing all rights applications
The Department of Mineral Resources is alleged by the Chamber of Mines to have frozen all mineral and prospecting right applications as well as rights transfers despite the moratorium proposed by mines minister Mosebenzi Zwane being open for comment. In a statement attributed to chamber president Mxolisi Mgojo, the chamber said the department’s head office had instructed all regional offices to stop processing mineral right applications submitted after July 19, the date on which Zwane gazetted the proposal. "This moratorium will effectively freeze investment, prevent many companies from restructuring and may lead to even more job losses in the sector," it said. "It flies in the face of the calls by the industry’s trade unions for the moratorium proposal to be withdrawn and in terms of the chamber’s urgent court interdict application to have the notice and proposed moratorium stopped from being implemented and thereafter reviewed and set aside," it said.
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