CAPE TOWN – South Africa's future is looking "a lot more positive" since President Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma last month, Anglo American's Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said on Wednesday.
Mining companies and South Africa's government have been at loggerheads for years over legislation that the industry warns could deter investment by changing the requirements for black ownership of private firms.
New mining minister, Gwede Mantashe, last week pledged to finalise the latest version of the charter within three months and Cutifani said companies had a positive meeting with Mantashe this week.
"It was a great meeting. A meeting that we've been looking for, for probably two to three years," Cutifani told a conference in Cape Town.
"We've continued to invest in South Africa, we believe in the future of South Africa and from our point of view it just got a lot more positive."
At the same conference, Goldman Sachs' Africa director Colin Coleman said South Africa was in a "very good position", although he warned that plans to expropriate land without compensation were making markets nervous.
Markets have reacted positively since Ramaphosa became the leader of the ruling African National Congress in December, before he become head of state last month when Zuma resigned under pressure from his own party.
The rand has gained 7 percent against the U.S. dollar since Ramaphosa took over.