Court confirms ‘once empowered, always empowered’ principle

The Minerals Council South Africa has welcomed the High Court judgment that the Mining Charter was not binding legislation, but rather an instrument of policy and that mining companies will not be required to “top-up” their empowerment credentials. The Minerals Council has sought a judicial review of the third iteration of the Mining Charter, published in 2018, with its primary concern about the provisions on how previous black economic empowerment (BEE) are not recognised in the renewal and transfer of mining rights.