CAPE TOWN - Cabinet has approved the much-awaited third incarnation of the Mining Charter, Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said on Thursday.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing in Cape Town, the minister said President Cyril Ramaphosa would reveal details of the charter on Friday when he is due to brief the media on economic stimulus measures.
The charter is designed to set transformation and ownership targets for the mining sector, but a version fostered by former mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane was vehemently opposed by the industry.
A version put forward by his successor Gwede Mantashe was seen as an improvement, but still problematic, notably with regard to a provision of a 10-percent free carry stake to be shared between communities and labour and trickle dividend of one percent from the operating profit line.
The second is believed to have been altered in the final version Mantashe presented to Ramaphosa.
Mokonyane did not want to be drawn on reports that Mantashe had secured Cabinet's approval to withdraw the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act in order to take out sections on oil and gas and put these in separate legislation.
"He does not need Cabinet approval," she said.
However, the minister is on record as saying he would seek the collective's approval, amid reports of tension with Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, who wants to bill to be expedited in order to push ahead on gas exploration.