The decision by Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe to challenge a high-court ruling on the once empowered, always empowered principle is a potentially serious setback for the mining industry and the South African economy. The challenge may ultimately progress all the way to the Constitutional Court. Should that happen the effect will be to inject at least another two years of uncertainty into the mining policy environment. The cost to the economy and society will be considerable. My colleagues are soon to release a paper on the extraordinary untapped mineral wealth of our country — wealth that will only be tapped if mining companies and their shareholders have confidence to commit vast amounts of capital to long-term greenfields mining projects. However, there is no way SA can sell such projects in a situation where no one knows how mining policy may evolve. The government is focusing on the wrong metrics in measuring the empowerment contribution of the mining industry to the...
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