I think the decision by Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe to do an “about face” over the High Court ruling on “once empowered, always empowered” and appeal the judgement is hugely negative.
It reveals that “the leopard cannot change its spots” because it shows once more that a critical part of the ANC’s ideological make-up is an underlying mistrust and dislike of the country’s mining industry. I expressed exactly this opinion of the ANC in a column published on April 11 after Mantashe’s speech to the Joburg Platinum Industry Seminar at which he declared the platinum sector was NOT in a crisis.
My opinion is not shared by the Chamber of Mines which is trying to smooth things over as best it can stating that it, “respects the right of the Minister and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to lodge an application to appeal the judgement.
“The Chamber is continuing to engage in good faith. That has not changed since the application to appeal, as we currently understand its intentions.”
So maybe – as Chamber executives have maintained a few times before over the years – there are positive developments going on the background that we outsiders don’t know about. If that’s the case I do hope they are right about it this time around.
For the rest of this article: http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/32724-just-thought-safe-buy-sa-mining-shares/