The Minerals bill also puts great pressure on mining companies to give away 26% of their equity or assets to black economic empowerment (BEE) investors. It does so by redefining the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 to include a controversial code of good practice gazetted in 2009 but put on hold because of the consternation it caused. This code, in effect, requires that mining shares or assets sold to BEE investors be debt-free within two years. As most BEE investors lack capital and need extensive loans to fund their acquisitions, companies might have to forgive most of this debt to satisfy the requirement. This risk will revive if the present bill becomes law and automatically brings the code into effect.
via www.bdlive.co.za
It didn't seem like the 2009 Mining Charter was in effect. It apparently is not
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