JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Ahead of the scheduled publication of the reviewed Mining Charter 3 by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) later on Thursday, the Chamber of Mines (CoM) has raised its concerns about the process, particularly about the lack of consultation about the content of the new charter.

The DMR on Wednesday invited the media to attend a briefing regarding the charter, stating that it had embarked on a process to review and amend the Mining Charter to “strengthen and refine its effectiveness in driving economic transformation and competitiveness in the mining sector”.

The CoM issued its own statement on Wednesday evening noting that it had received an invitation from Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to attend a meeting of the Mining Industry Growth Development and Employment Task Team (Migdett) at 09:00 on Thursday at Tshedimosetso House, in Tshwane.

“The notice for the meeting is less than 24 hours and the exact purpose of using Migdett is highly suspicious,” CoM commented.

The Migdett meeting is scheduled to take place an hour before a media briefing called by the Minister to discuss the new Mining Charter.

The CoM remarked that, as many would recall, Migdett was the forum through which the 2010 version of the charter was negotiated in a “highly intensive, inclusive and consultative multistakeholder process”.

CHAMBER OF MINES BOYCOTTS NEW CHARTER ANNOUNCEMENT
The chamber has, however, decided it will not be attending the Migdett meeting. The CoM emphasised that its office bearers would not be co-opted into participating in an attempt by the DMR to provide any support to what the chamber believes to have been a flawed process by the DMR.

“[We] have repeatedly expressed dismay that the Minister and DMR have seen fit not to engage with stakeholders in the same way this time round including through the Migdett structure, which has in fact been dormant for the past 18 months.

“Occasional meetings with individual stakeholders over a lengthy period are no substitute for a proper process that needs to achieve the buy-in of all stakeholders, and in particular the mining industry whose responsibility it is to implement the charter’s provisions,” the CoM said.

The chamber has noted that it would, nonetheless, be following today’s DMR event closely and would review the new charter once it has been made available.

The chamber has also announced that it will be hosting a briefing for members of the media at the Country Club Johannesburg, in Auckland Park, at 13:30 on Thursday.

SOLIDARITY JOINS BOYCOTT
Moreover, trade union Solidarity’s national executive council on Thursday announced that it too had made the decision to boycott the meeting of stakeholders and principals in the mining industry that was set up late on Wednesday afternoon by the DMR.

Solidarity said it concurred with the chamber’s view that the consultation process for the new Mining Charter had been flawed.

According to Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis the likely contents of the new charter would potentially lead to job losses. He added that, since Zwane’s appointment, he had not followed the tradition established in 2010 that principals would meet on a monthly basis.

“The Minister only wanted to meet with the stakeholders . . . to inform us of the contents of the charter,” he lamented.