The best part of the new system is that it has been, essentially, consensual between the mining industry and the state. It has been conceived of in a programmatic, long-term way. What remains is a general notion of a negotiated system, and at the broadest level, a target of 25% equity ownership by previously disadvantaged South Africans by 2014. In these times, when talk of nationalisation is rife, that alone is a big positive.
I was a little harsh on the DMR (slash ANC) in my last post where I spoke about arrogance. The mining charter was largely agreed upon - but it does not seem that everything was agreed upon.
The Business Day editorial from the 14th of September concluded with this
"Just as industry needs to find a way of addressing the spirit of the agreement, so the department needs to stop threatening to haul out the big stick and try to understand why investment and job creation in the mining sector are so poor."
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