Industry calls for clarity on mining charter
Government wants 30% BEE for mining, but hasn’t said if this includes previous deals
As long as previous black empowerment deals are recognised, a new target of 30% black ownership of mining companies would not be an insurmountable hurdle for most large mining companies to achieve, industry executives said this week.They were commenting on a Bloomberg report that the latest amended version of the draft mining charter approved by cabinet will raise the black ownership target from the current 26%. The draft charter will be gazetted in the next couple of weeks.Under the Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2004, compliance with the charter is necessary to qualify for and retain mining rights. The charter is reviewed every five years.The first black ownership target was 15% by 2009 and the second was 26% by 2014.Every time the department of mineral resources has reviewed companies’ compliance with the charter, it has disagreed with their measurements of black ownership. That is because black ownership fluctuates and definitions can vary.The industry’s offici...
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