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Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni used his first medium term budget policy statement on Wednesday to outline recent government decisions in the mining sector aimed at securing investor confidence.
Mboweni said the publication of the latest version of the Mining Charter and the creation of separate oil and gas legislation will also improve the investment environment.
The remarks on securing investor confidence was a clear nod to the investor summit which President Cyril Ramaphosa will hold in Johannesburg this weekend.
The medium-term budget policy statement said in the first eight months of 2018, mining production fell by 1.7% and, by contrast, production rose by 4.5% over the first eight months in 2017.
“In recent years, policy uncertainty in the mining sector constrained investment and growth. The revised Mining Charter has been gazetted, and the Department of Mineral Resources has indicated that it will withdraw the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act Amendment Bill, bringing much-needed regulatory certainty to the sector,” the statement said.
According to the adjusted estimates of national expenditure statement, the department received more applications for mining licenses than it had expected during the first half of the 2018-19 financial year.
The adjusted estimates also said African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation Bill remained under review, and that Parliament announced that it will not proceed with the Mineral and Petroleum Resource Development Act Amendment Bill.
