ESG

Miners welcome mining charter ruling in South Africa

Miners have welcomed a High Court judgement on Tuesday, which ruled in favour of the Minerals Council South Africa’s challenge of the 2018 mining charter.

Staff reporter
 Image: Pixabay/William Cho

Image: Pixabay/William Cho

The full bench effectively found the charter was a policy not legislation and ruled to remove or set aside aspects which had been challenged, including the requirement to top up black economic empowerment shareholdings to 30%.

The Minerals Council South Africa had challenged parts of the charter in 2019, including seeking to maintain the "once empowered, always empowered" principle and remove "unachievable" procurement provisions of 70% of goods and 80% of services from BEE enterprises.

The council welcomed the regulatory certainty however Tuesday's judgement could be appealed, South Africa-based law firm Webber Wentzel said.

"The High Court has ruled that the 2018 mining charter is policy, not law, and has set aside various aspects of the charter as unconstitutional," WW lawyers said.

"While sound, this judgment is likely to be appealed."

The MCSA said it and its members were "fully committed to the transformational objects of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), but the objectives must create policy and regulatory certainty for long term investment and inclusive growth in the sector".

"The minerals council will continue to engage the DMRE on a constructive basis to create the necessary policy and regulatory certainty and to attract much greater investment into the exploration and mining sectors," it said.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Equities Report 2023

Access an exclusive, inside look on the quarterly mining IPOs and secondary raisings data and mining equities performance tables with an annual Stock Exchange Comparisons supplement.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence World Risk Report 2023 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 121 jurisdictions globally, built on 11 ‘hard risk’ metrics and an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2023: Social licence

Gain insights into social licence trends and best practices from interviews with 20+ top mining company executives and an industrywide survey.