It is a bit rich for the Chamber of Mines to cry about transparency
As the court challenge to the third Mining Charter begins, Robert Krause argues that mining companies have done to communities what they accuse government of doing to them: drowning out their voices
The Chamber of Mines, which represents 71 companies in the mining sector, has come out swinging against the latest version of the Mining Charter, launching a legal challenge to its validity that is backed by an extensive media campaign, including a glossy website organised around the hashtag Not Our Charter. One of the main charges levelled by the Chamber of Mines against the charter is that it was developed without meaningful public consultation. An article on the Not Our Charter website, entitled 5 Reasons Why the Mining Charter is Bad for Mining, Bad for SA, states that the charter "has been unilaterally developed without proper consideration of the views of key stakeholders … by not taking into account any of the Chamber’s serious concerns, the DMR [Department of Mineral Resources] has acted in bad faith". The mantel of champion of public participation is, however, a highly uncomfortable fit given the mining industry’s record in relation to groups of people who are affected by m...
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