SA to unblock mining investment
13 February 2007South Africa's mining legislation will be amended this year to remove obstacles to investment in the sector, says Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.
According to the SA Press Association (Sapa), Sonjica, addressing the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town last Tuesday, said investment in South African mining was lagging other resource-rich countries, despite the boom in commodity prices.
According to Business Report, the SA Chamber of Mines has blamed South Africa's mining laws and regulations for costing the country as much as R10-billion a year in investment.
While Sonjica did not elaborate on the planned changes, Minerals and Energy deputy director-general Abe Mngomezulu told Business Report that the changes would revolve around technical, beneficiation and environmental issues.
Peter Leon, vice-chairman of the mining law committee of the International Bar Association, told Sapa that the minister's statement would help put local mining back on top of the preferred list of global mining investment destinations.
Leon said African countries such as Ghana and Tanzania were attracting more mining investment than South Africa because of the clarity of their regulatory regimes.
South Africa needed to catch up, he said, and Sonjica's statement was "a big step in the right direction."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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