Johannesburg - A war of words continued on Friday between the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the Chamber of Mines over the draft review of the Mining Charter, with the department accusing the chamber of reneging on scheduled meetings at the eleventh hour.
This comes after the Chamber last week accused DMR of sidelining industry concerns regarding the highly contested Mining Charter. In a statement, DMR said it had engaged comprehensively with the Chamber on the draft Charter since it was gazetted in April this year.
“The Chamber unfortunately cancelled a confirmed further engagement with the Minister at the eleventh hour. The meeting was scheduled for last Saturday, 19th November 2016,” DMR said.
“Legislative development in South Africa is clearly prescribed in the Constitution and other prescripts. The Department has not deviated from these requirements.”
DMR further said it would not sideline the industry as government had a responsibility to consult with all its stakeholders and consider their input on legislation development.
DMR said as of last month, it shared the progress made on the Charter with the Chamber which constituted more engagements with an interested and affected stakeholder, when compared to others.
DMR said it was interesting to note that the Chamber's chief executive, Roger Baxter, was quoted as saying the previous Charter was co-developed and yet the Chamber has taken the Department to court on the ownership element of the Charter.
“None of the stakeholders consulted have yet been given a copy of the Charter, as the Department is in the process of considering and finalising inputs received,” DMR said.
“Should the Chamber of Mines 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 Charter is a document that seeks to encapsulate all of South Africa's interests and not just the Chamber's, it would be an unfortunate gesture.”
DMR said Minister Mosebenzi Zwane had always maintained an open door policy of engagement with stakeholders, and invited the Chamber to a meeting if it wished so.
African News Agency