Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe is set to appeal against last week's court judgment in favour of the mining industry's interpretation of the "once empowered, always empowered" debate. "We should not close our eyes and say once empowered always empowered in a case where a company dumps a black partner ... That is where we prefer a situation of talking about looking at each case with its own merits," Mantashe said on Friday. Last week the High Court in Gauteng ruled in favour of the mining industry when it said the "once empowered, always empowered" principle would be recognised for previous black empowerment transactions, meaning companies did not have to do a perpetual top-up of black partners if previous black shareholders sold their shares. Some analysts said this would be a blow to the transformation that had already taken place in the industry. Mantashe countered this, saying the judgment was no blow because "we are preparing a formulation that looks at each case on it...
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