LEGISLA TIVE AND REGULA T OR Y ENVIRONMENT S tr a t egic Goal 2 T he Miner als C ouncil w orks t o cr ea t e an enabling legisla tiv e and r egula t ory en vir onment f or the mining sect or wher e legisla tion and r egula tions r ele v ant t o the sect or ar e s table c ompetitiv e and pr edictable Mining Chart er Although the ne w Chart er which w as f ormally gaz ett ed on 2 7 Sept ember 20 18 w as an adv anc e on pr e vious dr afts the Miner als C ouncil r emained c onc erned about the f ailur e of the ne w Chart er t o fully r ec ognise the c ontinuing c onsequenc es of pr e vious tr ansactions T he Chart er s tipula t es tha t ther e is no such r ec ognition in r espect of the r ene w al or tr ansf er of mining rights T he Miner als C ouncil a tt empt ed t o r esolv e the is sues thr ough dialogue with the Miner al R esour c es and Ener gy Minis t er but giv en tha t the is sues w er e not timeously r esolv ed within the 180 da y timeline c ons tr aint f or ins tituting a judicial r e vie w applica tion the Miner als C ouncil had no option but t o pursue the legal r out e t o r eserv e its rights T he judicial r e vie w applica tion w as ac c or dingly is sued on 26 Mar ch 20 19 and w e ar e no w in the pr oc es s of fnalising the pleadings f or the ma tt er t o be hear d during the c ourse of 20 20 T he Minis t er r aised a non joinder ar gument in his papers and unles s the Minis t er is willing t o abandon this ar gument or the c ourt dismis ses the nonjoinder def enc e the hearing of the ma tt er in c ourt will in all lik elihood be dela y ed Mining lic ensing s y s t em Signifcant impr o v ement is r equir ed in the mining lic ensing s y s t em and lic enc e is sue turnar ound times T he Miner als C ouncil submitt ed a 20page summary of outs tanding lic enc es and not es tha t the DMR is making good pr ogr es s in tackling this backlog and impr o ving the s y s t em The Miner als C ouncil w as intima t ely in v olv ed in the f ollo wing legisla tiv e and r egula t ory w ork during 20 19 Miner als C ouncil declar a t ory judgment on the onc e empo w er ed alw a y s empo w er ed principle April 20 18 sa w the deliv ery of a judgment on an is sue fundamental t o the indus try ar ound which litiga tion had begun the pr e vious y ear On 4 April 20 18 the North G aut eng High C ourt gr ant ed a Declar a t ory Or der in f a v our of the Miner als C ouncil c onfrming the principle of the r ec ognition of the c ontinuing c onsequenc es of pr e vious tr ansactions or the o n ce empo w er ed alw a y s empo w er ed principle as it is otherwise kno wn T his t echnically means tha t mining c ompanies w ould not be c ompelled t o permanently t op up their black shar eholding if e xis ting black shar eholders f or an y r eason e xit or dispose of their shar eholdings Although the DMRE ga v e notic e of their int ention t o appeal the Declar a t ory Judgment on 20 April 20 18 the Minis t er only fled his Notic e of Appeal on 18 Oct ober 20 19 T he Minis t er is es sentially appealing the whole judgement ar guing amongs t others tha t the r equir ement t o r eempo w er is perpetual and r ecurring T he gr ounds of appeal call f or the adoption of an int erpr eta tion tha t allo w s one t o r ead c ertain pr o visions int o the MPRD A which simply does not e xis t b y r ef er enc e t o a r elianc e on the Bill of Rights and the objects of the MPRD A W esizw e Bak ubung Pla tinum mine P age 7 1 MINERALS C OUNCIL SOUTH AFRICA INTEGRA TED ANNU AL REVIEW 20 19