South Africa: Mining Charter - Ramaphosa to the Rescue - but Community Voices Still Ignored

President Cyril Ramaphosa's personal intervention in the current impasse around the controversial Mining Charter has been greeted with relief and optimism by industry players. One of Ramaphosa's first presidential moves was to negotiate the postponement of court action, slated to start on Monday, aimed at setting aside the charter. But members of community groups directly affected by mining say that - as has become the norm - their views on the matter were ignored.

The members of more than 150-based community organisations were eagerly anticipating Monday, February 19 - the day they expected to finally have their say in court about the much-debated Mining Charter, a document which they maintain has failed in each of its three iterations to reflect the views of people who live around South African mines.

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