BBEEE shenanigans - hells bells why do we put up with this nonsense.
Black-controlled Royal Bafokeng reduced its stake in Impala to 6.3 percent, the Johannesburg-based platinum producer said in a statement on Monday. The sale accounts for a stake of about 8.3 percent in the Rustenburg Lease asset, which is now 18 percent controlled by black holders after the Royal Bafokeng share transaction, said Johan Theron, a spokesman for Impala.
The government requires that black citizens own at least 26 percent of an operation at all times, a decree that the Chamber of Mines, which speaks for most producers, is disputing in court. The shareholding is a legal requirement for licenses to operate.
Whether Impala will need to conclude a new black shareholding transaction depends on the outcome of a court case in which the chamber is asking that companies should be credited with meeting the minimum requirement even if those stakes were later sold. South Africa’s push for increased black ownership of the mining industry, which accounts for almost half of the country’s exports, is part of an effort to address the legacy of apartheid that locked the black majority out of key industries.
Impala fell as much as 4.4 percent after the announcement and was trading 3.5 percent lower at 43.90 rand by 11:50 a.m. in Johannesburg.
