Once empowered [is] always empowered [after all] – this is the effect of the judgment handed down by the High Court, Pretoria on 21 September 2021 in the matter between Minerals Council of South Africa vs Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and thirteen others [Case No.20341/19] (the “Judgment“) in relation to the challenge to the Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the Mining and Minerals Industry, 2018 (“Mining Charter III“).
- The Minerals Council of South Africa instituted its application to review and set aside certain provisions of the Mining Charter III (the “Review Application“) in terms of section 6(2) of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000, alternatively in terms of the principle of legality as set out in the Constitution on the basis that:
- the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy (“Minister“) lacks the power to publish Mining Charter III in a manner that suggests that it is a legislative instrument, and doing so amounted to the Minister assuming the functions of the legislature;
- the clauses are unauthorised by section 100(2) of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (“MPRDA“) and therefore the decision to publish them as part of Mining Charter III was materially influenced by an error of law.
A copy of our bulletin on the salient features of the Minerals Council’s challenge is available here.
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