MCSA CEO Roger Baxter
Photo by: Dylan Slater
The Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA) has resolved to further engage Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe on “unresolved” issues in Mining Charter 3, which was gazetted on September 27.
These unresolved issues include the limited applicability of continuing consequences of past transactions on the disposal of black economic empowerment shareholding, MCSA, which is led by CEO Roger Baxter, said on Wednesday.
Other MCSA concerns pertain to the renewals of mining rights as new rights, the practicality of the inclusive procurement provisions relating to local content targets for mining goods, the targets for services and the turnover threshold for junior miners.
The MCSA, however, also lauded some of the positive aspects of the new charter, including the removal of the requirement on existing rights to top up from 26% to 30%, the introduction of carried interest to benefit communities, the removal of the 1% earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation stream and the removal of charter ownership prospecting rights.
The council is still consulting with its board, but welcomes the publication of the Mining Charter and broadly supports its intentions and content, it stated.
“This new Charter is the product of substantial engagement between key stakeholders and is a compromise that reflects different difficult choices that have been made. This charter provides a better balance between the mutually reinforcing concepts of promoting competitiveness and transformation,” it added.
The council stated that the charter represented a policy instrument that provides a “clear and durable” framework for securing a transformed industry with meaningful transformation within which growth and competitiveness can realistically be achieved.
The council also hopes that greater clarity and certainty will be obtained in the coming weeks, as the guidelines for implementation are developed.