Minister of Mineral Affairs Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane at the Africa Mining Indaba on February 8, 2016 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Business Day / Trevor Samson)
At least six regional managers from the department of mineral resources are opposed to Minister Mosebenzi Zwane’s plans to ‘reshuffle’ them, primarily because they regard the decision as politically motivated.
According to a report in The Business Day, the far-reaching redeployment of regional managers is alleged to be linked to plans to award mining rights to politically connected individuals.
The group of aggrieved managers approached the Labour Court to set aside a decision by the minister and his director-general, Thabo Mokoena, to shift them to other posts in the country.
The Labour Court granted them an interdict in April, which effectively blocked the reshuffle.
Zwane, since his appointment in 2015, has been mired in controversy, with the biggest cloud hanging over his head being accusations that he gave the controversial Gupta family preferential treatment on mining licences.
At the recent Mining Indaba, mining sector stakeholders boycotted a dinner hosted by the minister and called for him to be replaced. The mining sector is currently locked in a stalemate with the minister over his new mining charter, which they argue was promulgated without adequate consultation.
The publication reports sources in various unions and the department allege there is an “atmosphere of fear and intimidation” in the department.
The department had not responded to the publication by time of publishing.
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