Latest news with #GwedeMantashe
IOL News
2 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Mantashe faces criticism over changes to mining law draft
Activists and experts have accused Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe of bowing to pressure from powerful mining companies. South Africa's Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, is facing strong backlash over his recent changes to the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill. Critics say the revisions favour big mining interests at the expense of communities, the environment and the national push for economic transformation. Two key changes in the updated draft have sparked outrage. The first is the removal of the requirement for Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) participation in applications for prospecting rights. The second is the scrapping of a clause that required ministerial approval when control of a listed company holding mining rights changes. Activists and experts have accused Mantashe of bowing to pressure from powerful mining companies. David van Wyk, a respected researcher in the field, questioned the minister's intentions. 'Prospecting is where it all begins,' Van Wyk said. 'Companies make millions by selling these rights after identifying valuable mineral deposits. Without BEE, transformation becomes just a word. And when companies change hands without any oversight, it makes it easy for them to dodge their environmental and social responsibilities.' Van Wyk also warned about the consequences of poor regulation in the sector. 'We already have more than six thousand abandoned mines in this country. These are environmental disasters, and the communities around them suffer the most. If the minister is not informed when ownership changes, there is no one to hold accountable when something goes wrong.' Christopher Rutledge, director of the organisation Mining Affected Communities in Action, said the changes show how the government has shifted its loyalty from people to business. 'The Bill's amendments are not about fixing technical errors. They are a political decision that turns away from the goals of transformation and accountability,' he said. Rutledge believes the removal of BEE requirements in prospecting is a deliberate decision to maintain control of the industry in the hands of the same elite. 'This ensures the same old faces keep control of the mineral wealth. It opens the door to secret deals, takeovers and asset sales, with no regard for the people on the ground or the environment.' He added that the state needs to play a far stronger role. 'Public ownership of minerals and the mining process is the way forward. The revenue should support a sovereign wealth fund that benefits all South Africans, not just a few. Right now, the state-owned mining company barely has a footprint in the sector, and no one knows how much has gone into the sovereign fund.' Trade union federation Cosatu has also raised concerns. Spokesperson Mathews Parks said the federation would engage with Mantashe to get clarity on the goals of the changes. 'Legislation must be aligned with economic transformation. We cannot afford to backtrack now.' Meanwhile, the Minerals Council South Africa has welcomed some parts of the draft but says more work is needed to support investment. Public comments on the Bill will close in August, but for now, the debate continues over whether the government is acting in the national interest or putting profits first.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Is the ANC quietly rewriting empowerment
Gwede Mantashe's removal of B-BBEE rules for prospecting rights has ignited criticism from labour and activists, raising fears of a shift in policy. Is the ANC-led government of national unity (GNU) about to sell out on the principle of broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), the policy which has formed the bedrock of ANC policy and which has been in the crosshairs of its critics recently? That's the question which arises from the decision of Minerals and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe to remove the requirement for B-BBEE participation in prospecting rights. According to some NGOs involved in the mining sector, Mantashe caved in to pressure from the mining lobby, not only on the prospecting licence rules, but also on the requirement that the minister must approve any change in control of listed companies that own mining rights. The latter means that the government would be unable to track owners and assign responsibility to them for cleaning up mining sites once an ore body has reached the end of its profitable life. That, say Mantashe's accusers, means potential environmental damage on a huge scale. ALSO READ: 'Is it greed or jealousy?': Ramaphosa fires back at critics of BEE, Transformation Fund But it is the amendment to empowerment rules which has angered groups like organised labour, because there seems to be no logical reason for the deviation. The latest development comes after Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi was pilloried for allegedly trying to soften empowerment law to allow Elon Musk's Starlink to operate in South Africa. That this was an incorrect reading of both the law and what Malatsi said made no difference to his enemies, who claimed the DA minister was 'selling out' B-BBEE. There is also some concern about whether the ANC is feeling the pressure of people like the right-wing lobby and its powerful friend, US President Donald Trump, who view empowerment laws as apartheid in reverse. It seems unlikely the ANC would roll back these laws because it would be punished at the ballot box. Which leaves another question: What is Mantashe up to? NOW READ: Cosatu says debate on B-BBEE is needed for beneciaries' benefit
The Herald
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Higher education minister keeps up stonewalling on 'SETA panel'
Higher education and training minister Nobuhle Nkabane continues to dig in her heels over the submission to parliament of the names of the 'independent selection panel' she relied on to make controversial appointments to SETA boards last month. Nkabane had until the close of business on Wednesday to submit records and minutes of the meeting of the 'independent panel' that she says advised on the appointments of the chairpersons of Sector Education and Training Authorities that she was last month ordered to reverse by the presidency. But at the eleventh-hour on Wednesday, it emerged that Nkabane wrote a letter dated June 10 to Tebego Letsie, an ANC MP who chairs the portfolio committee on higher education, asking that the June 10 deadline be extended by a further 20 days, to June 20. The higher education committee had given her the deadline of June 11 last week after she refused to disclose the names and full details of her 'independent panel' at a heated meeting, with Nkabane citing the Protection of Personal Information Act. Nkabane landed in hot water several weeks ago after it emerged that she had appointed controversial and politically connected people to chair the boards of the SETAs. Among them were Buyambo Mantashe, the son of minerals minister Gwede Mantashe who was once deputised by Nkabane in that portfolio. Also on the controversial list were former KZN premier Nomusa Ncube-Dube, former KZN MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu and Johannesburg MMC Loyiso Masuku. The move has pitted Nkabane against President Cyril Ramaphosa, who first ordered her to withdraw the names and most recently also asked her to submit a report to him on the matter. Sources in the higher echelons are adamant that Nkabane's stonewalling on this issue is slowly catching up with her and she will soon run out of options, with some casting doubt on the existence of the 'independent selection panel'. In her letter to Letsie, which has since been shared with all members of the higher education committee, she placed on 'record and confirm my full intention to comply with the portfolio committee's request'. Again citing the POPIA and the Promotion of Access to Information Act, Nkabane said she needed more time to ensure that the information she was preparing to send to parliament would be disclosed in a lawful manner. She told her oversight committee that she had been 'assured that I am legally permitted to disclosed the panellists' details in a lawful manner'. 'For these reasons and in acknowledgment of the panellists' rights to privacy, I have written to each of the members of the selection and evaluation panel and advised them of my intention to comply with the portfolio committee's request. 'However, it remains unlikely that my engagements with them will be completed by the 11 June 2025 deadline. In the circumstances, and to allow the panel members an opportunity to respond to my letter or exercise whatever right they may have, I request an extension of the deadline to 30 June 2025.' The higher education committee was expected to discuss its response to Nkabane's deadline request in the coming days.
Daily Maverick
11-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Mantashe pulls back on BEE proposals for mining exploration
Exploration is an extremely risky business, and BEE ownership rules on the activity would be a major obstacle to the deployment of capital on this front. Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has changed clauses in the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill (MRDP) that would have imposed BEE requirements on previously exempt exploration companies and projects in the mining space. The BEE requirements on the high-risk exploration arm of the mining sector provoked backlash from the mining industry, and Mantashe made comments last month that suggested he was not aware that the draft Bill contained such provisions — but if it did, he would correct them. 'Now, and in the future, there's no provision for BEE on exploration,' Mantashe said in late May during a media briefing at the conclusion of the AGM for the Minerals Council SA. Earlier this week, Mantashe issued an erratum notice to correct the draft and remove the BEE requirements for exploration and prospecting. 'The granting of such rights will further the objects referred to in section 2(d) and comply with the broad-based socio-economic empowerment prescribed elements,' was in the original wording regarding prospecting, but that has now been removed. South Africa's share of global exploration spend has collapsed from around 5% two decades ago to less than 1% in the face of a range of challenges, including massive applications backlogs that the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources hopes to address soon with a new mining cadastre. Exploration is an extremely risky business, and BEE ownership rules on the activity would be a major obstacle to the deployment of capital on this front. 'The Minerals Council South Africa notes the gazetting of … corrections to the Draft Mineral Resources Development Bill,' said the council, the main mining industry body, in a terse statement. 'The Minerals Council continues to review the Bill amending the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and we will submit our perspectives within the scheduled timeline of 13 August 2025.' Overall, the industry is not happy with the Bill, which once again moves the goalposts at a time when investors are crying for certainty in a sector that remains crucial for South Africa's low-growth and high-unemployment economy. One bone of contention is embedding the Mining Charter into the legal framework, which could again unleash the 'once empowered, always empowered' debate, which the industry has already won in court. 'Once empowered, always empowered' means that once a company meets a threshold for black ownership, it does not have to keep topping up endlessly if black shareholders sell their stakes. 'The Bill in its current form does not encourage or sustain the growth and investment that the mining industry needs to realise its full potential to create employment, stimulate the economy and fulfil its social mandate,' said the Minerals Council. DM
Mail & Guardian
10-06-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Moeletsi Mbeki criticises ‘ruling political elites' for ‘milking' South Africa's economy
Political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki has indicted South Africa's 'ruling political elites' for contributing to the country's economic dysfunction Political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki has indicted South Africa's 'ruling political elites' for contributing to the country's economic dysfunction by milking state coffers, while urging the private sector to get involved in finding a solution. Speaking at a Xubera Institute for Research and Development forum near Durban last Friday, 'South Africa has one problem — and please don't listen to Mbeki highlighted the minerals sector as providing a stark illustration of the economy's systemic failure. With minerals accounting for 60% of South Africa's exports, the ongoing war between the Minerals Council, representing major producers, and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, showed a self-destructive pattern of political interference that threatened the nation's economic lifeline, Mbeki warned. 'Why is the minister of mines fighting the mining industry instead of working with the mining industry?' he asked, referring to the dispute that started with a review of the 2018 Mbeki traced the roots of the current economic crisis to the country's fundamental power 'Before that date, political power rested with property owners — the owners of mines, banks and supermarkets. What happened was a transfer of political power from people who owned property to people who don't own assets,' he said. 'The new rulers don't have land, don't have mines, don't have banks, don't have shops. So where do they live off? They live off the state.' As a result, the political elite were 'milking' the state coffers with the public sector wage bill having ballooned to an unprecedented 17% of GDP — the highest globally. By comparison, developed economies allocate just 10% to public sector wages. The government collects about R2 trillion annually, Mbeki said, with 84% immediately consumed by two line items — public sector wages and debt servicing. This leaves virtually nothing for infrastructure, development or economic expansion. He noted that the International Monetary Fund had repeatedly warned about the unsustainability of South Africa's public sector spending. 'The department of finance [the treasury] a year or so ago, revealed that more than 55 000 public sector employees, including politicians and ministers, more than 55 000 of them earn more than a million rands a year. If you walk into the national parliament, you walk in there and fall asleep, which many of them do. You earn R1.2 million. But without doing anything, just walking in,' he said. 'There aren't many businesses that are profitable that give a livelihood to one individual of a million rands a year … The controllers of political power use their political power to enrich themselves through the public service. They are milking, literally milking, the whole economy to pay themselves fabulous salaries.' Mbeki said the business elite, which employs 75% of people in South Africa, was finding itself increasingly paralysed as it faced the threat of expropriation without compensation and had adopted a survival strategy of minimal investment. According to the latest data from Statistics South Africa, youth unemployment is about 65% and the expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged job seekers, stands at 44.1% — a ticking time bomb of social instability. 'When you have such a large population that's not working, then that's a recipe for disaster, and many of these non-working people are young people under the age of 35, so you're sitting on a time bomb,' Mbeki said. South African Reserve Bank data shows that private sector fixed investment has declined for seven consecutive quarters, with business confidence at its lowest levels in decades. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry's business confidence index has been below the neutral 50-point mark for 36 consecutive months. 'If you own an asset, and you have a threat of your assets being seized without compensation, what will you do? You invest as little as possible just to keep your business ticking,' Mbeki said. About R1 trillion was sitting idle in current accounts, with businesses refusing to invest because of political uncertainty, he said. South Africa's policies on land and property, including the recently signed Despite joining President Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC in a government of national unity last year, the former main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has maintained its opposition to such legislation, launching court challenges to both the Ramaphosa defended the policies in parliament last month, arguing that racial redress after apartheid was not a hindrance to economic growth, but an essential step towards broadening black participation in the economy to spur growth. Mbeki said he believed the ANC would not actually implement the 'This is all posturing. They haven't got the guts to do it. They think it will win them the election, but Trump has called their bluff, so now we saw them shivering in front of Trump in the White House … that's what happens when you bluff,' he said. He was referring to Mbeki said 68% of South Africans live in urban areas and depend on commercial farmers for food security. Responding to a question from a man in the audience about land redistribution, he said: 'If we take the land from the present commercial farmers and give it to my brother's family there, they can't produce to feed the population. 'They haven't got the capital, they haven't got the skills, they haven't got all the things that you need to be able to run a productive commercial farm in South Africa today. That is reality we have to live with.' He said agricultural exports were also important to the economy because they accounted for about 15% of the country's total exports. Mbeki said the political landscape offered little hope with parties such as ActionSA and the DA offering no substantive economic solutions. 'The DA is a middle-class party, like the ANC is a middle-class party, like ActionSA is a middle-class party. Doesn't matter whether you're white or black, they're a middle-class party and they defend the interests of the middle classes,' he said. 'They haven't changed the structure of the economy. They haven't come up with a strategy for overcoming the 40% unemployment that we're sitting with in this country. 'We have to bring down the standard of living of the public sector employees and we have to dilute the power of the propertyless political elite. That has to be diluted with the power of the workers, the power of the poor and the power of the capitalist. They have to dilute the power of the middle class that is now dominant in our political system.' Drawing a comparison with South Korea, Mbeki highlighted the opportunity cost of South Africa's political model. In 1950, the two countries were economically comparable. Today, the Korean economy is nearly three times the size of South Africa's. 'Korea invested in its human resources. Their life expectancy is nearly 80, ours is 61. That's what investing in human capital means,' he said. Mbeki dismissed the notion that some white South Africans longed for a return of apartheid. 'Apartheid will never come back in South Africa. The notion that white people want apartheid back is totally not true … A huge part of the white population did not support apartheid,' he said. Mbeki urged business to get involved in politics to rescue the economy. 'We need more active political activity from the owners of capital in South Africa, because without their participation, as I showed, they control most of the skilled labour force in this country, without their labour force, without their management skills, we can't have both calls like this one.' 'Property owners have to intervene in the political system and become political participants. This is one of the problems we have in South Africa — that the owners of capital only act when we're on the edge of the precipice.' Xubera Institute for Research and Development founder Xolani Dube said the country was facing a catastrophe and people had been 'zombified' into not confronting it. 'Possibly those who crafted this catastrophe were fully aware of the people they are dealing with — they are dealing with people who are docile. So, what Xubera is trying to do is to conscientise people about the issues facing our country,' Dube said. 'Unfortunately, the more we discuss, others are digging the grave for us so, in a way, we have submerged in this hollow grave and unfortunately we are dragging our kids into this grave. And when we rise, we rise for our own selfish issues, but not the issues that bind us all. That's the sad part.' He said the country's economic situation was due to the government's previous bad decisions. 'It's the sins of our fathers that we are now dealing with. It's poor policy decisions — R600 billion that was spent on bailing out state- owned entities. This is the type of situation that we've inherited that we now need to deal with,' he said. 'But you now have a multi-party government in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, not a one-party dominant government, and it means there's more accountability, but you are never going to change the inherited system overnight. 'It's going to take time to turn it around but I would suggest that we're in an exciting and vibrant political situation with challenges. We understand those challenges but we need to collectively start taking an active interest in politics and in political parties.'
