Mining Charter: Benchmarking BEE
The contentious clause in the mining charter requires companies to continuously find new black partners to maintain their BEE ownership at 26%, which is complex and costly
African Rainbow Minerals executive chairman Patrice Motsepe evoked the wrath of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) when he came out in favour of the principle of "once empowered, always empowered" last week.The contentious clause in the mining charter requires companies to continuously find new black partners to maintain their BEE ownership at 26%, which is complex and costly."Because it’s a cost, certainty is critically important," Motsepe said. "If shareholders have to incur a cost, just spell it out. Don’t change the rules of the game."The NUM said this position was regressive and called for the department of mineral resources (DMR) to finalise urgently the draft mining charter to close the gap that is being exploited for "narrow neoliberal and capitalistic gains by the elite".The DMR’s new draft five-year charter was gazetted in April without consultation with the industry. It contains this clause, as well as a number of new targets, for example on employment equity, commun...
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