CAPE TOWN – South African lawmakers said they will persist with approved amendments to the country’s oil and mining laws, rejecting concerns raised by President Jacob Zuma about the constitutionality of changes to the legislation first passed more than two years ago.
While lawmakers in the world’s largest platinum producer approved the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill in March 2014, Zuma declined to sign it into law, citing concerns that some sections may violate South Africa’s constitution.
“In our view there is broad consensus,” Sahlulele Luzipo, chairperson of the parliamentary committee for mineral resources and a member of the ruling African National Congress, said in an interview on Wednesday. “The issues around constitutionality will stand the test of the courts.”
The bill will again be voted on by the National Assembly in the next two weeks, Luzipo said.