DMR hits back at chamber’s claim it was not consulted on draft charter

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has refuted claims that the Ministry has not actively engaged stakeholders about the draft revised Mining Charter.
 
On Friday, the DMR issued a statement which said it had “engaged comprehensively” with the Chamber of Mines (CoM) on the draft of the charter since it was gazetted in April.
 
“The chamber unfortunately cancelled a confirmed further engagement with the Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane at the eleventh hour. The meeting was scheduled for last Saturday [November 19].”
 
The DMR stated that the legislated requirements in respect of legislation development in South Africa had been “clearly prescribed” in the Constitution and other prescripts and that the department had not in any way deviated from these requirements.
 
Further, the department commented that government had a responsibility to consult with and consider all stakeholders’ inputs and, therefore, it would not be appropriate for government to have an exclusionary negotiation with the CoM on legislation development.
 
The DMR noted that it had, last month, shared the progress made on the Mining Charter with the chamber and also convened a number of engagements with the chamber on the same subject.

“This constitutes more engagements with an interested and affected stakeholder, when compared to others. None of the stakeholders consulted have yet been given a copy of the Mining Charter, as we are in the process of considering and finalising inputs received,” the department declared.
 
Moreover, the DMR said the comments attributed to CoM CEO Roger Baxter that the previous Mining Charter had been codeveloped were “interesting”, pointing out that the chamber had taken the DMR to court on the ownership element of that codeveloped Mining Charter.
 
“Should the CoM seek to fight any aspect of the revised Mining Charter that they deem unacceptable, it would be their prerogative to do so. However, in light of the fact that the reviewed Mining Charter is a document that seeks to encapsulate all of South Africa’s interests and not just [that of] the CoM, it would be an unfortunate gesture,” the DMR contended. 
 
The statement concluded that the Minister had always maintained an “open door policy” of engagement with stakeholders and looked forward to meeting with the CoM on this and other matters raised by the chamber, “at its earliest convenience”.