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Oliphant talks up Mantashe's mining pedigree in Toronto

SA Deputy Mining Minister Godfrey Oliphant holds a gold casting of former President Nelson Mandela's hand during the 2018 PDAC convention, in Toronto

SA Deputy Mining Minister Godfrey Oliphant holds a gold casting of former President Nelson Mandela's hand during the 2018 PDAC convention, in Toronto

Photo by Henry Lazenby

15th March 2018

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

     

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VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – South Africa's Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant talked up the mining pedigree of newly installed Minister Gwede Mantashe during the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual convention, held in Toronto.

"His previous mining experience is an advantage for the country at the moment," Godfrey told a panel hosted by professional services firm Fasken Martineau.

Godfrey made a point of highlighting how fast things have moved under new African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa following the Mining Indaba, which was held in Cape Town in February. "We just waited for the guests to leave," he quipped.

The rapid timeline since former President Jacob Zuma's resignation on Valentine's day, saw Ramaphosa being sworn in the next day as President of the country, before successfully delivering the State of the Nation address a day later.

Soon after taking the helm as ANC president in December, black billionaire Ramaphosa sprang into action with an international road show to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, telling the world that South Africans are "clamouring for a clean government", and noting that his government want to "correct issues of regulatory uncertainty".

It was at the Davos convention that Ramaphosa stated that if the Mining Charter is holding the country back, "then government should deal with it and find commonality of views with potential investors".

On February 19, a civil challenge of the Mining Charter was put on hold, pending renewed rounds of engagement between government and all stakeholders.

Ultimately ten Ministers and deputy Ministers were fired and shuffled in Ramaphosa's new Cabinet. "South Africa changed in a very short time," Oliphant stressed to the international audience.

Mantashe's ascension has also helped to quickly resolve uncertainty regarding the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), Oliphant said. His first discussion was that he believes he can solve the MPRDA and Mining Charter issues in three months. Mantashe recognised that this issue needs a sense of urgency, Oliphant added.

He conceded that some provisions of the charter regarding high levels of mandated local content are perhaps not implementable, and that government is prepared to listen. "We need local, not 'glogal'," he stressed. "This goes down to the level where a company hires trucks from Johannesburg and operates them in Kuruman, where they mess up the roads, but the hiring company pays registration fees to Johannesburg. We want to give communities opportunities that fit their ability, to their benefit."

The country's Business Leadership South Africa organisation has welcomed Mantashe, saying despite not having direct experience in government, he "has an intimate knowledge of the mining sector and is an astute negotiator".

According to Oliphant, Mantashe has been given three months to sort out mining policy problems, especially relating to industry concerns about the latest iteration of the Mining Charter, which was, up until last month, being challenged in court on the basis of inadequate consultation.

However, the celebratory atmosphere in South Africa has been dimmed by the ruling ANC recently voting in support of a motion by opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, for a constitutional review that would enable land to be expropriated without compensation.

"We now feel it's better to expropriate land painlessly. We will start with our vast State-owned lands. And there is a lot of goodwill from the private sector and farmers. Disowning land from people is last on the list," Oliphant said

"The ANC has been generally very concerned about mining and how we handle our policies. The ANC is not trying to manage it, but to give advice. Now Mantashe is in that position so he can act on the advice he has always given."

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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