Implementation of Mining Charter suspended
The Chamber of Mines says it has received a written undertaking that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane will not implement or apply the provisions of the 2017 Reviewed Mining Charter pending judgment in an urgent interdict application.
The Chamber approached the High Court for an urgent interdict to prevent the implementation of the Reviewed Mining Charter, as published by the department on Thursday, 15 June 2017.
In their application, the Chamber and its members state that they are fully committed to the transformational objectives of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), but are opposed to the department's Mining Charter as it 'attempts to subvert those objectives by the unlawful publication of instruments which purport to give effect to such objectives but in fact undermine them'.
According to the Chamber, the implementation of the Charter in its current form, it will 'destroy the very industry whose survival is necessary to give effect to the objects of the MPRDA'.
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Chamber spokesperson Charmane Russell says they have acceded to the department's request for extra time to prepare its answering affidavit to the interdict application and for the hearing to take place on a later date.
The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, 18 July 2017.
"The parties have asked the Deputy Judge President (DJP) of the High Court to allocate a hearing date in September 2017. This date is subject to allocation by the DJP, which is expected to occur by around the end of July," says Russell.
Russell says the Chamber's application to have the department's latest version of the charter reviewed in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) and the Constitution will be lodged as soon as possible after judgment has been handed down in their urgent interdict application.