MAB, Ownership, Empowerment, CSR, highlighted Mines Bill inaugural hearing
The issues to do with the Mines Affairs Board (MAB), Ownership of mining titles, Empowerment of local people and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) highlighted the proceedings at the inaugural Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill public hearing held at New Ambassador Hotel in the capital on Monday.
Rudairo Mapuranga
Stakeholders in the mining industry who submitted their proposals for inclusion in the mines and minerals amendment bill were in agreement that the amendment of the current mining law was long overdue, however, the amendment of the law should be in support of native Zimbabweans past, present and future to ensure holistic benefits the country’s God-given resource.
Commenting on the proceedings of the public hearings Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development Chairperson Hon Edmond Mkaratigwa said he was encouraged by the quality of contributions of Stakeholders in the sector specifically on Ownership, Empowerment, and CSR.
“I’m encouraged by the turnout of Stakeholders Representing various groups in the mining sector, a lot of others in their individual or family trust capacity. I am also encouraged by the quality of contributions that came from the Stakeholders. To mention first are the issues to do with an empowerment model that ensures access by locals and the ownership of the mining claims by locals.
“And coupled with the empowerment, there is a strong view that while we have opened the sector for international investors to participate in our local market, we should actually, raise the bar in terms of the entry point, the threshold for any international player to come and participate in mining. They should not restrict themselves, for example to a standard mining block, maybe they should be given more than five blocks and they should be employing a minimum of 500, employees. So that they contribute significantly to our economy and they should be credible. They should pay taxes. The next, item of discussion that came out to be topical, is corporate social responsibility (CSR). What participants want to see is good infrastructure development, for example, roads, clinics and other support, infrastructure in our communities. Not only that is to be rendered by mining houses so much that the communities are going to give social license to any contribution by this foreigner.
“They also want to see the vulnerable that is, women, and the disabled participating in one way or the other in mineral exploration extraction and the value addition and beneficiation.
“There are so many issues I cannot finish them, but what I must say is, we need to see if a strong law is being enacted at the moment, a law that will defend, a law that will intensify the mining sector, a law that will regulate the mining sector, a law that will ensure that we manage and distribute equitably our resources that we are endowed with as a country and to wrap it up as an issue and we encourage conversations to allow around the participation of employees in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development right now. The restriction they are not allowed to participate in any mining activities. They should not own any mining claims and you are saying as we, recur or as we amend this law, we also want to draw an analogy from what other Ministry officials, for example, in the agriculture sector they are allowed to what extent to own, land for agricultural purposes while they are involved in regulating that sector and those in the midst of environment, for example, who get involved in tourism and safari operations. So we’re saying our law should be fair, but we look at the views that are coming from the public not from us as a committee,” Hon Mkaratigwa concluded.
Chairperson for Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Association (ASSA) Mr Blessing Togarepi objected that the Mines Affairs Board (MAB) be removed from the bill saying that it will slow down the processing of mining claims.
“Currently, there is slowness when it comes to the issuance of mining titles when the MAB is not involved, involving the mines affairs board will even slow down the process. As a sector we would want the MAB scrapped from the bill and give its duties to the PMDs,” Togarepi said.
Mining Consultant Nyasha Magadhi said that the MAB should be given the power it currently has in the current Mines and Minerals act and maybe take some powers to ensure that its decision to the signing of Exclusive Exploration Licence (EEL) and Special Grants (SG) be final but should not be given the power to determine who pegs, what mining claim and under what circumstances.
“We want the MAB to maintain their powers, we do not want them to be involved at whatever cost in the pegging and allocation of mining claims, it’s not and will never be their duty.
“We however want them to have the power to sign EEL and SGs on behalf of the President,” Magadhi said.
Aleck Chimhofu of Brentwood Chambers (Rusinahama-Rabvukwa Attorneys) said that the Bill should look into the Ownership of land and ensure that mining does not dispose land owners from enjoying their rights through giving mining precedents over other land uses.
“We would have expected the new bill to address for example when we pick section 241, it is introducing a provision which seeks to give an order to the owner of private land to sell their land or to dispose the land to a miner and basically what that provision would entail is that it is an erosion of the private ownership of land. It is an invasion of the rights to private property. We can’t have a law which promotes an erosion of a proper right which is enjoying the constitution because we are given this right by the constitution. Looking at section 13, subsection 4 of the constitution which says members from the local community should benefit from the natural resources which are found in their communities,” Chimhofu said.
The Chairperson of the National Gemstone Miners Association Walter Kawara said that it was of paramount importance for locals to benefit from resources found in their communities. He said that it was important that minerals like lithium and copper be removed from being classified as strategic minerals.
“We have copper and lithium everywhere in this country, and it will be a disadvantage to communities if these minerals are classified as strategic because what it means is that the communities will be relocated from the minerals they should benefit from only for a foreigner to enjoy.
“We want locals to be able to mine lithium and copper anyhow because these minerals are easy to mine, foreigners can therefore come for processing,” Kawara said.