Rip up mining charter and give tax incentives for job creation: Maimane

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane on Wednesday said in order for the mining sector to progress‚ it had to go back and redo things which were done incorrectly before.

“The reason South Africa is not the world’s mining capital is entirely our own doing. We chose to shut the door on new mining development decades ago through restrictive regulations‚ hostile labour practices and policy that can‚ at best‚ be described as discouraging‚” said Maimane.

He said the country had been trapped in a wrong paradigm for so long that it was hard to imagine it getting out. “In this old paradigm‚ mining in South Africa is two things: firstly‚ it is a powerful tool of patronage that can transform connected comrades into billionaires at the stroke of a pen‚” said Maimane.

“And secondly‚ it is a symbolic battleground for ownership of our country’s wealth and resources – a battle that continues to be driven along age-old lines of race.”

He said South Africa continued to fill and close mining shafts rather than open them. “Currently we only have around 22 active‚ contributing mining companies listed solely on our stock exchange. Canada has more than 200. Australia‚ too‚ has in excess of 200.”

Cheap‚ exploited labour also contributed to the struggles in the sector‚ he said.

Maimane had a few recommendations on how the sector could be revived. “First among these is to rip up the new mining charter‚ along with the MPRDA‚ and rewrite them for a modern‚ investor-friendly mining sector. And written into this new legislation must be the clause that says: ‘Once empowered‚ always empowered’‚” he said.

“We need an efficient and honest regulator. This means mandatory and short timelines for official decision-making‚ and we certainly cannot afford the shadow of corruption over licensing and regulation‚” he added.

“We need an open and transparent industry. Data should be freely available‚ along with transparency over who owns what rights. This information should be easy for anyone to access.”

“We need to look at a favourable tax regime. South Africa did not build the world’s deepest mines without assisting mine owners through favourable tax schemes. The benefits of increased employment are such that taxation should perhaps be lowered to incentivise the creation of mining jobs‚” he added.

Maimane also advised that the biggest part of the mining pie should not be going to politically-connected individuals. “All that will do is to sign mining’s death warrant‚” he said.