Johannesburg - The Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with the Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane that he will not implement the controversial 2017 Reviewed Mining Charter until judgement has been handed down in the Chamber's urgent interdict.
The Chamber said it had met with legal counsel representing Zwane who approached it on the matter.
This comes as the mining industry body and Zwane were set to face off at the North Gauteng High Court on Thursday and on Friday where the Chamber has lodged an interdict against the implementation of the Charter.
The Chamber filed an application in the North Gauteng High Court in June to have the Mining Charter reviewed and set aside, saying that the Charter would be harmful to the industry and the economy because of its content, as well as the vague and contradictory language employed to convey that content.
But the industry has since agreed that the matter be heard by a full bench of judges on Wednesday and Thursday in the interests of expediting the review process.
The Charter, which was gazetted in June, sets new black ownership targets for the industry, including that new mining rights holders have 30 percent black ownership shared amongst employees, communities and black entrepreneurs.
Zwane has already filed his answering affidavit in the North Gauteng High Court to oppose the Chamber’s urgent interdict to prevent government from implementing the Charter.
In terms of this new agreement, Zwane gave a written undertaking that the Charter will not be implemented until judgement has been handed down in respect of the Chamber’s review application, which has rendered the granting of an interdict by the court not necessary at this stage.
Zwane also undertook that if he makes any reference in public to the Charter, he will simultaneously make reference to his written undertaking and that the Chamber has brought review proceedings to set aside the Charter.
Zwane's written undertaking will be presented to the court on Thursday for noting.