SA optimistic about mining deal

The South African government has said it is optimistic that the deal signed on the revitalisation of the Pan African Minerals Development Corporation (PAMDC) would be fully implemented as they seek to cure challenges the company is facing.

On Saturday, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa signed a communique on the revitalisation of the PAMDC in Victoria Falls.

The company, originally set up to exploit mineral concessions held by Rhodesia Railways, had become moribund and was technically bankrupt and had lost, through lack of action, some of its mineral rights. The agreement is essentially to get the company back into action and working properly.

The communique was signed by Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona, Zambia Minister of Transport and Logistics Frank Tayali and South Africa Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Samson Gwede Mantashe.

In an interview after the signing ceremony, Minister Mantashe said: “In as far as we are concerned, PAMDC has a lot of potential which has not been exploited. All of us are new in the portfolios that we are holding.

“We think that is incumbent upon us to pump life into it and grow it as it has all the opportunities and chances to grow. In South Africa it was given five mining rights, it didn’t exploit a single one,” he said.

Minister Mantashe said during the next meeting in September, there will be some positive results.

“It also depends on the board we are going to appoint, if it is serious to do what the shareholders think because shareholders and the board must work together,” he said. “If the board doesn’t execute the task of the shareholders, then that board is failing.”

Minister Mantashe said South Africa was a founding member and will continue working with other member states since PAMDC had not worked and that is what they wanted to focus on.

The developments come after last year the three countries had resolved to adopt urgent interventions to fully operationalise the PAMDC and manage it in their best interest.

Through a tripartite arrangement, the governments of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe agreed to form the PAMDC, which was mandated to hold and exploit mineral rights which were bequeathed to Zambia and Zimbabwe by Cecil John Rhodes.

Recent governance challenges due to non-representation of South Africa on the PAMDC board as well as financial constraints as a result of non-contributions have threatened the operations of the entity.

According to a communique released at the end of the Council of Ministers Meeting last year, it was resolved that engagements should be made to persuade South Africa to meet its obligations under the tripartite arrangement.

Zimbabwe and Zambia have 66.7 percent shareholding in PAMDC held through ERP, while South Africa has 33.3 percent held through African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC).

Over the weekend, Minister Mhona said it was prudent that they resumed their annual meetings to give direction and impetus to the PAMDC Board, so that the recently granted mineral rights in Northern Cape Province do not lapse before exploration.

He said it was not a secret that PAMDC required an extensive turnaround strategy and business viability plan.

Minister Mhona said as a Council of Ministers, they had put their heads together to ensure that PAMDC became solvent again and safeguard interests of their countries. Minister Tayali from Zambia said it was, therefore, good to see that in spite of the few setbacks and hurdles that characterised their partnership around PAMDC in the years gone by, they had all gathered to witness the revival of the aspirations of the three countries expressed in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by their three governments in 2007.

He said Zambia believed in unity and reiterated that they were stronger and better together.-The Herald