Mining Weekly reports that the Board of the Bench Marks Foundation (BMF) said on Tuesday that the new Mining Charter was the flawed outcome of inadequate consultation with communities and warned that the document was poised to worsen stakeholder relations.  

BMF executive director John Capel condemned the new charter and said it would result in more protest action.  The foundation accused the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) of being entirely disingenuous in its claim that it had consulted.  “It boggles the mind that the DMR believes that speaking to a small number of chiefs in one mining area is representative of the views of mining-affected communities in South Africa,” Capel said.  The new charter’s approach to mineworker housing was also criticised for being seriously deficient.

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