Court Sets Aside Aspects of Govts Mining Charter, IEC Closes LGE Registration

LOCAL NEWS

• Pretoria High Court has set aside some critical aspects of the Dept of Mineral Resources' controversial mining charter, ruling that once a company is empowered in terms of the country's BEE rules, it is always empowered.
  • legal proceedings over the charter have been going on since 2018 after govt tried to force companies to continue maintaining BEE credentials in perpetuity, even if their current investors sold off or moved away.
  • Critics and opposing litigants argued that these rules would come at a high cost and encourage disinvestment in one of South Africa's most vital economic sectors
• Union NUMSA to embark on indefinite strike in October over wage increases, while the steel and engineering industry says conditions do not allow for the improvements the union is demanding
• IEC says it will be doing candidate verifications over the next few days following the closure of the second round of registration for local elections and be published next Tuesday -saying there would be no further extensions. The IEC now turns is focus to special votes
• Unions wins Denel court case over unpaid salaries forcing the embattled state arms producer to hand over R4m in case raised from asset disposals to cover unpaid salaries.
  • 2021 projections show Denel's balance sheet at R600m in the red if no mitigating action is taken soon
• Energy Expert Yelland says NERSA's approval of Karpowerhip's generation licenses does not mean the deal is done with many issues still outstanding: ports authorisation, port regulator and environmental authorisation and a fuel pipeline license is still needed which could take some time
• Foreign relations Min Sisulu says travel red list talks with the UK have stalled with the presence of the Beta variant central in the decision to keep SA on the list ahead of peak tourist season