The South African govern-ment has completed its review of the Mining Charter, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has announced.

Shabangu said at the annual 
general meeting of the Chamber of Mines (CoM) that she was aware that the CoM regarded government’s review of the Charter as being “unfair” and pledged to give the organisation a chance to provide input, prior to the 
document being finalised.

When government, labour 
and business created the Charter in 2004 as a trans-formation blueprint, it was agreed that its provisions of social and labour plans, skills development, employment equity, beneficiation and preferential procurement would be reviewed five years later.

“We have completed the review of the Mining Charter. I know that the Chamber feels that we’ve been unfair. 
“We will be coming back to you,” Shabangu said.

She said that no official pro-
cess could be conclusive without all the stakeholders making their inputs.

“We believe that you have a 
critical role to play in the final 
conclusion of the Charter,” Shabangu said.

“We will consult,” she added.

She then immediately drew 
attention to many near-mine communities continuing to live in abject poverty despite min-ing having taken place in the vicinity for more than a century.

Successful transformation of the mining industry was impossible if communities continued to live in abject poverty.

“We have to work on how we take forward the 120 years of the Chamber in a transformed way,” she said.

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