On 27 September 2018, the South African Minister of Mineral
Resources, Gwede Mantashe (the
"Minister"), published the Broad-Based
Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and
Minerals Industry, 2018 (the "2018 Mining Charter"). It is
indicated that "implementation guidelines" are to be
published in the near future. What follows is a summary of a few of
the salient features of the 2018 Mining Charter.
Ownership
The "once empowered, always empowered" principle has
been accepted but still in a qualified fashion, which will
unfortunately lead to further litigation and legal uncertainty.
Existing mining right holders who achieved a minimum of 26%
broad-based black economic empowerment
("B-BBEE") shareholding will be
recognised as compliant for the duration of the mining right,
implying but without stating expressly that such recognition will
lapse upon the expiry of the mining right, suggesting that such a
holder will need to re-empower upon
