The Chamber of Mines will not turn away from its court challenges against the Department of Mineral Resources as the legal route is the only one it has confidence in while dealing with the regulator and Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, says chamber CEO Roger Baxter.
Speaking shortly after ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize told the Jo’burg Indaba mining conference the party was pushing for both sides to engage in talks to resolve their differences with the ANC offering to be a facilitator, Baxter made it clear this was not an option.
"We will do our talking to the minister through the courts. We don’t think he negotiated in a manner conducive to the national interest," said Baxter.
He reiterated comments he made at a mining conference in Australia in September that Zwane had a "very questionable history" and had unilaterally published the third iteration of the Mining Charter, which the chamber felt would "destroy the industry". Baxter said Zwane had then followed this with proposal for a moratorium on the issuance of new mining and prospecting rights.
"This pattern of behaviour makes it impossible for the industry to engage with any confidence with him on the industry’s future," Baxter said.
At the conference, 42% of the 600 delegates, including senior company management, financiers and lawyers, wanted Zwane to leave the post he has held for two years.
Zwane said on Tuesday night he would personally invite the chamber to wide-ranging talks in coming weeks to try to iron out differences.
However, given that the chamber boycotted the gala dinner at which Zwane spoke on Tuesday and the low regard in which they hold the him, the success of such a meeting is questionable.
Asked in an interview on Tuesday night about the comments Baxter had directed at him in Australia about the industry no longer having confidence in him, and the unresolved corruption allegations hanging over him, Zwane said: "My personal point of view is we should not labour under those negativities because they will not help us create an environment where we can engage with everybody as leaders, without really clinging on to these nasty issues."
Zwane said his officials had spoken to Baxter after his fiery presentation at the Africa Down Under mining conference and "he had painted a picture that he was emotional. We accepted that he’s a human being."
Baxter shot back on Wednesday that there was nothing emotional in his speech, which had been crafted with the full approval of the chamber’s executive to address misleading comments Zwane had made at the conference that the now-suspended charter was law and that investors had backed the document.
The chamber and department will appear in the High Court in Pretoria before a full bench of judges in mid-December for a judicial review of the charter. If the outcome is in favour of the chamber, the document will be set aside and renegotiated.
"We know a new charter has to be developed and we are ready to do so with government leaders of integrity and with all our other stakeholders," Baxter said.
Speaking at the same conference immediately after Mkhize, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the charter and the Mineral and Petroleum Development Act should be torn up and a fresh attempt made at legislation to encourage investment in the country rather than transferring mineral wealth from one set of elites to another under the ANC’s agenda.
seccombea@bdfm.co.za
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