[miningmx.com] – THE Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) appeared to be in confusion today after it declared itself unaware of a presidential proclamation suspending parts of the controversial 2008 amendment of the Minerals & Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).
Legal news site Legalbrief Today this morning reported that a presidential proclamation had been published by Jacob Zuma on Thursday reversing last week’s declaration that the MPRDA 49/2008 would be passed in its entirety.
“Clauses in the Act amending certain sections of the principal Act will not come into effect at this stage. The status quo therefore remains unchanged for provisions in the principal statute,’ Legalbrief said.
However, the DMR said it was unaware of the latest proclamation when approached by Miningmx.
Last week, President Jacob Zuma issued announced in the Government Gazette that the 2008 amendments to the principal act would come into effect today.
An outcry from lawyers and role players in the mining industry followed as it would have caught the mining industry off guard, having no time to implement the prescribed changes in the amendment act.
Stakeholders were particularly baffled about the unexpected proclamation since a new amendment bill to the MPRDA is already under way to parliament. This means the regime of the 2008 amendments would have been very short lived.
DA MP Hendrik Schmidt, who serves in parliament’s portfolio committee on mineral resources, told Miningmx that the ANC will most likely attempt to rush the new MPRDA amendment bill through parliament before next year’s general election. “It’s definitely part of their election campaign,’ he said.
According to Matthew van der Want, an attorney for Toronto-based Faskin Martineau, the most significant amendment that would not come into effect related to the much picked over issue of ministerial discretion.
This was the amendment to section 11(1) of the MPRDA which sought to extend the requirement of ministerial consent to changes in shareholding in listed companies and non-listed companies.
“Therefore a section 11 application, as has been the case in the past, will only be required for a change of control in an unlisted company and will not be needed for a change of control in a listed company,” said Van der Want in a company note.
Consequently, an amendment empowering the mines minister to cancel old order mining rights will also not come into effect.
As importantly, the MPRDA will continue to allow companies to amend its exploration rights allowing it to incorporate other properties into its rights. In terms of the 2008 amendment act this had also been prohibited, but now would not apply.
“It is not clear when or whether the postponed sections will ever come into force,” said Van der Want.
“However, given the importance of these sections, mining companies should closely follow the developments as well the contents of the pending Bill to avoid being caught unaware,” he said.
