The draft Mining Charter Three, which was unexpectedly published in April without any stakeholder engagement, “is completely unworkable in its current form”, says law firm Herbert Smith Freehills director Patrick Leyden, adding that buy-in from the relevant stakeholders is critical for the successful implementation of the charter’s requirements. Although the current draft is intended to provide policy and regulatory certainty in South Africa’s mining industry to ensure investment in its development, Leyden averred at a conference in Johannesburg last month that publishing the draft charter without stakeholder input had the opposite effect.
