Mantashe to appeal court ruling on black ownership of mines

Johannesburg - Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has sought leave to appeal a court judgment earlier this month over a crucial black-ownership principle in the country’s Mining Charter, the nation’s mining lobby said.

The Chamber of Mines has been notified that the minister and the Department of Mineral Resources filed the application, it said in a statement Monday. The High Court in Pretoria on April 4 ruled that the first two versions of the country’s charter didn’t require producers to top up black-shareholding levels in perpetuity if they previously met the minimum 26% requirement.

A copy of the application provided by the chamber is dated April 19.

“The chamber is currently reviewing the specified grounds of appeal, although the DMR’s appeal appears to center on the majority judges obiter dictum comments about the legality of the 2010 charter and the enforceability of the charters,” the lobby group said.

The development is another volley in a longstanding legal battle to clarify the charter rules. The case was revived last year by the chamber, which sought a declaratory order on the so-called “once empowered, always empowered” principle. The group has argued that companies can reach the black-ownership requirements by counting previous sales to black investors, even if those investors later sold their shares to whites or foreigners.

The Department of Mineral Resources didn’t immediately return an email and call seeking comment.

Mineral reserves

SA has the world’s biggest reserves of platinum and manganese, and its mineral deposits also include gold, iron ore, coal, chrome and zinc. Anglo American, Glencore and South32 are among companies operating in the country.

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Malan Scholes, a Johannesburg-based law firm, has made a separate application to declare current and previous charters unconstitutional because they lack definition and are inconsistent. The chamber opposes the view that the 2004 and 2010 charters are not valid and has agreed to join as a respondent to that application, it said.

Mantashe is holding talks with the industry, unions and mining communities on a new charter, a set of rules aimed at distributing the wealth of the industry more widely. Earlier this month, he said he’s confident that work on the charter will be concluded in May.