Solidarity welcomes court case over Mining Charter being replaced by a negotiating process

19 February 2018

Solidarity welcomes the agreement reached between the Chamber of Mines, the Department of Mineral Resources and the Presidency to have a negotiating process replacing litigation in court. This is the very request interested parties had made to the Department of Mineral Resources in April 2017, but it required the intervention of Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa and the Presidency to realise this logical outcome.

According to Solidarity General Secretary Gideon du Plessis, the following six conditions must be met for negotiations to be a success though:

Those are:

1. Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and the lackeys he had appointed in the department must be replaced immediately.

2. Interested parties’ decision-makers must participate in the mining charter negotiations so unnecessary delays caused by first having to seek mandates do not arise.

3. Bona fide community groupings must participate in the negotiations to ensure that their interests, too, are addressed.

4. The negotiation platform should not be used for grandstanding by the parties.

5. The growth and sustainability of the mining industry must be the common goal of the parties.

6. The proposed amendments to legislation on mineral and petroleum resources (Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act – MPRDA) must form part of the negotiations so that the uncertain regulatory framework may be addressed and resolved in one process.

Solidarity furthermore calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to be involved as a mediator during this process should the negotiations reach a deadlock. “His negotiation skills and experience as Codesa negotiator will also stand him in good stead here,” Du Plessis said.

Issued by Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary, Solidarity, 19 February 2018