New Mining Charter causes consternation

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says government and the mining industry need to ‘go back to the drawing board’ to recraft the Mining Charter, following the recent gazetting of a third version that has caused deep consternation within the industry and precipitated a major sell-off in South African mining stocks. According to a Polity report, Ramaphosa said there was ‘clear misalignment’ between the industry, as represented by the Chamber of Mines, and Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, over whether consultation on the charter had been ‘full and complete’. The chamber had already indicated that it would be approaching the courts to interdict the implementation of the charter, which it said had been gazetted unilaterally and contained requirements that could be unconstitutional.