Page 53 - Vol 33 Issue 34 2021

Opinion mining

months, but can take as long as 18 months. environmental authorisations all have to move We have the legal expertise to guide our
This requirement does not extend to listed across, so there’s a part of that project that clients to navigate these complex regulatory
entities, however. What does apply to all also has to focus on bringing the regulatory requirements to comply and invest in the
mining acquisitions in South Africa, however, compliance into line, and this is where the mining sector in a cost effective and time saving
including FDI, is that the mining company must right kind of legal advice becomes crucial. A manner. Although our economy, and the mining
comply with all of the conditions of its mining few of the change of licences can be done post sector, has taken a bit of a knock with COVID-19
right. Firstly, the business must comply with implementation of the sale, but it is an ongoing and existing hurdles before the pandemic, it is
the Mining Charter in terms of the following process thereafter. undeniable that now is a good time to invest in
– 30% of ownership must be in the hands of Some change of licences can take a bit of mining, given the fact that it is a buyers’ market.
historically disadvantaged groups, of which 5% time. What often happens is that certain mining Astute foreign investors would do well to buy the
of those shares must be held for the benefit of operations were approved under a certain right asset like commodities, and the process of
the mine’s host communities and 5% of shares environmental plan, which the new owner investing in SA’s mining sector, although it can be
must benefit the company’s employees. might want to change the scope of slightly. The lengthy, can be made much easier with the right
These shares usually come in the form of mine would then have to undergo a formal kind of legal advice and guidance.
a community trust and an employee benefit environmental impact assessment, which can
trust, while other companies create a share take 12 months to 24 months to get done only
pool. The guiding principle here is that there after ministerial approval.
has to be a very real benefit, which all comes
down to dividend flow. The Department of
Mineral Resources and Energy encourages
trickle dividends, so the money received by
beneficiaries is not only governed by profit
but also ensures that there is a regular flow of
funds to communities and employees. Equity
in transactions is also dealt with as part of
broader social and labour plan compliance
to ensure that community and employee
projects benefit from the company, so that
a more sustainable economy is built within
the communities that sit around the mining
entity. For example, the company is required
to build up small business around the mine,
which often fall into the categories of security
and logistics, both important for the mining Live Fuel
entity. These stipulations do not apply to the
rights that were granted under the previous Management
Mining Charter; however, they do reflect a
real drive by government to try and broaden
the equity base of mining companies so that it Stop fuel theft and fraud
doesn’t benefit just one person. Procurement Monitor all transactions live DigitFMS
in mining, for example, is also more specific in Know what is in any bowser
the mining industry to meet BEE requirements, Tracking and live fuel management
such as capital goods and operational expenses All information available online
being differentiated between. The equity Do away with manual fuel registers Digicell has notched up more than 14 years in business, built
requirement of ownership transfer in the case an impressive network of over 115 active franchise operations
across South Africa and plan to double this capacity in the
of a mining entity usually takes 9 to 12 months Allocate fuel usage per vehicle next five years.
to finalise and, in the case of FDI, can only be Digicell have recently updated its Digit FMS brand product
solution offering the industry a comprehensive fleet and fuel
implemented once ministerial approval of the control system enabling the fleet owner to take control of their
transaction has been obtained. OUR COMPANY ON business through tracking and monitoring. Solutions include;
DFuel and DBowser that provide real time fuel levels from
supply to consumption; DCam and AI systems allows
Licence transfers continuous visibility of a driver, goods and assets activity in
transit; DTemp is a nice add-on to monitor mobile temperature
in the cold chain; AJAX security systems for Office, yard and
activity control. Finally the Cut out option available on any
If the FDI does not involve a change of control, tracking system provide fleet owners and distributors with a
but rather involves buying out assets and putting degree of peace-of-mind.
them into a new entity, then what flows from WWW.DIGITFMS.CO.ZA
that is a change of licence or licence holder.
This can be a complicated process because of FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US:
environmental approvals, for example water www.digicell.co.za +27(0) 11 316 3264 info@digicell.co.za
licences, atmospheric emissions licences and www.digitfms.co.za +27(0) 83 442 2733

AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol33 Issue 34 2021 | 53