The Minerals Council South Africa on Thursday said it had noted that the application by the Mineral Resources and Energy Minister for leave to appeal the majority order judgment and orders delivered on April 4, 2018, had been granted.
The April 2018 judgment, given in favour of the Minerals Council, had dealt primarily with recognising the continuing consequences associated with black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions in the mining industry.
The Minister’s application had been heard in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday.
The granting of the application for leave to appeal would now entitle the Minister to take the next step of appealing the April 2018 ruling at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
"From the Minerals Council's perspective, the recognition of continuing consequences of previous BEE deals embodied in the April 2018 declaratory order judgment is a critical principle in law for promoting long term investment and transformation in the mining sector.
"The Minerals Council believes that policy certainty, and in particular security of tenure, for long-term investment in the mining sector is a critical component of a thriving, growing and competitive mining industry. A stable, predictable operating, fiscal and regulatory environment can get the mining industry back on track, and through this, ensure more and sustainable transformation," the council said in a statement.
It added that it also respected the rights of the Minister to appeal the judgment.
"The Minerals Council looks forward to the matter being further ventilated and adjudicated in the Supreme Court of Appeal and hopes that greater policy and regulatory certainty will emerge from this process," it stated.