Mantashe promises summit to deal with mining charter

Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has pledged to hold a summit once consultations on the contentious mining charter have been completed this month.

At a media briefing after his budget vote speech in Parliament‚ the minister said the intention of holding the summit would be to test the contents of the charter with those who had commented on it‚ including business‚ labour and communities.

He would not commit himself as to whether the department would contemplate changes to the charter as a result of the deliberations at the summit‚ saying that to do so would cast doubt on whether the charter had captured the concerns of stakeholders.

He added that the department would compile a document on all the issues raised about the charter.

In his speech‚ Mantashe said government aimed to finalise and gazette the revised charter in June after having taken on board inputs and concerns from stakeholders across the country.

"Thus far we have held consultations in five provinces where mining and labour-sending areas are situated. We have also established a task team‚ comprising all social partners‚ to develop a coherent vision for a competitive and sustainable industry‚" he said.

- BDlive