wabenzi is determined to push his new mining charter through. Even that doos zuma told a public that openly detests him yesterday, that it is coming.
The problem is that the mining houses have not agreed to it
Mining companies in SA have been frozen out of consultation over regulatory changes that could dilute shareholders, raise costs and impose new levies to fund community development.
Last week, SA’s Cabinet approved a new draft of the country’s Mining Charter and Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has promised it will be gazetted within weeks. Yet while labour leaders have been consulted on the long-delayed new rules, the Chamber of Mines, which represents producers, says it "does not have any insight" into the latest version and hasn’t met government officials on the subject since March.
The looming dispute threatens to prolong uncertainty and further slow spending in SA’s biggest export industry. Fixed investment in mining dropped in each of the past two years and companies, including Sibanye Gold, have warned that any new investment will be a tough sell in the current environment.
"The government and the Chamber of Mines haven’t really sat down on this issue, and much of the public discourse has been posturing by both sides," said John Meyer, a London-based analyst at SP Angel Corporate Finance. The industry may head to court if the government imposes harmful changes, the chamber said this month.
I spoke to an attorney who specialises in the mining sector (and who is not subject to the fucking mining charter) this morning, he says if the chamber doesn't interdict it then someone else will. You would think that this useless government who is absolutely up against the ropes would attempt to follow due process. We know that bolshie bob pushed his unintelligible codes through without adequate consideration of the comments it received and no one blocked him (I tried but raised no cash to do so). The mining sector is different, it is litigious. There is a lot more money invested in the mining sector.
What is wabenzi's agenda here? Surely he knows that this will be blocked; he hasn't even followed the most basic process. Perhaps his idea that this will prove that business is (read white monopoly capital) is anti radical economic transformation and hence the mines need to be nationalised. He can then take them and hand them over to the guptas. We've learned not to second guess the average anc cabinet minister - retarding South Africa tends to be their priority. What we do know is that zwane is absolutely out of his league, he's a gupta puppet and he's actually quite thick.
See you in court.
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