S Africa to appeal court ruling on black ownership of mines

Bloomberg

South Africa has sought leave to appeal a court judgment earlier this month over a crucial black-ownership principle in the country’s Mining Charter, the nation’s mining lobby said.
The Chamber of Mines has been notified that Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and the Department of Mineral Resources filed the application, it said. The High Court in Pretoria on
April 4 ruled that the first two versions of the country’s charter didn’t require producers to top up black-shareholding levels in perpetuity if they previously met the minimum 26 percent requirement. A copy of the application provided by the chamber is dated April 19.
“The chamber is currently reviewing the specified grounds of appeal, although the DMR’s appeal appears to center on the majority judges obiter dictum comments about the legality
of the 2010 charter and the enforceability of the charters,” the lobby group said.
The development is another volley in a longstanding legal battle to clarify the charter rules. The case was revived by the chamber, which sought a declaratory order on the so-called “once empowered, always empowered” principle.