DA agrees MPRDA Bill must go back to Parliament

10 October 2014

The DA welcomes the statement by Mineral Resources Minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, that the MPRDA Bill should be sent back to Parliament for revision. 

The DA has long held that this Bill was rammed through Parliament by the ANC in the twilight of the Fourth Parliament without following due process, and ignoring unequivocal calls for its reconsideration. The DA held further that the Bill would have serious consequences for mining investment, and would cripple the nascent oil and gas industry.

After the Bill was passed I petitioned President Zuma, and pointed out that there were at least 8 grounds to conclude the Bill may not be constitutional. These included a mixture of concerns about the procedure used to rush the Bill through, and about the effects of the bill amounting to the violation of the constitution.

Government, or at least the Minister, appear now to agree with us. Sending the Bill back to Parliament will give us a chance to fix the many things about this Bill that are dangerous to the industry and which will lead to its slow demise rather than its growth as advertised by the Bill's ANC supporters.

We also welcome the Minister's intention to work with the industry to identify concerns that are hampering new investment. The industry heard at the Johannesburg Mining Indaba yesterday that despite being the most mineral-rich mining jurisdiction in the world, South Africa is attracting less than 2% of new mining investment.

We are sympathetic to the view of some in the industry who do not want the Bill returned to Parliament. They are worried that hard-won concessions on the Bill achieved in back room talks with the Department may be jettisoned if discussion on the Bill is reopened and the ideological warriors in the ANC gain the same ascendancy they had when the Bill was passed. 

Of course this is a risk, but there are signs that some in the ANC are coming to realize that the country is faced by a stark choice: either a flourishing mining industry, or the crony-controlled robbers bazaar advocated by the ANC left wing that will lead to the continued slow journey to extinction of what should be one of our brightest economic hopes.

If the MPRDA Bill does come back to Parliament the DA will fight to fix the Bill. South Africa needs a clear set of rules that govern mining and conditions that favour the return of investment.

Statement issued by James Lorimer MP, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources, October 10 2014

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