JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Pretoria High Court has dismissed, with costs, law firm Malan Scholes’s application to consolidate its case with that of the Chamber of Mines (CoM) to seek clarity on certain aspects of the Mining Charter.
The move was welcomed by the chamber, which had opposed Malan Scholes’s ambitions of having the CoM’s declaratory order combined with its own court case as the law firm moved to have the Mining Charter declared unconstitutional and invalid.
“The chamber opposed the consolidation of the action by Malan Scholes on the grounds that it does not seek determination of substantially the same questions of law or fact,” the CoM said in a statement this week.
In June last year, the CoM approached the High Court for a declaratory order to provide guidance on the principles applicable to the assessment of the ownership element of the Mining Charter, particularly in respect of the continuous consequences of previous black economic-empowerment deals.
“The industry has been, and continues to be, committed to the achievement of all the transformation objectives of the Mining Charter, but does, however, seek clarity on the interpretation of one critical issue related to the continuing consequences of empowerment transactions,” the chamber explained.
CoM CEO Roger Baxter previously noted that significant progress had been made by industry in all the charter’s pillars, including meeting and exceeding the ownership target in aggregate, with empowerment levels of 38% achieved on average by the CoM’s members.
“The value of empowerment transactions since 2000 amounts to R205-billion in 2014 money terms, resulting in meaningful economic value transfer of R159-billion,” he said.