S.Africa: Mines Minister to Assess Industry Progress

South Africa's mines minister Susan Shabangu will in a few weeks time give her assessment of how much progress the industry has made in reaching the targets of a charter aimed at giving previously excluded blacks a higher share of ownership, her spokesperson said on Friday.

We expect the minister to pronounce on this issue within a matter of weeks once she has looked at all these latest reports, spokesperson Bheki Khumalo told Reuters, referring to reports that companies had to submit by the end of July.

South Africa's Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday black ownership among its members averaged 28 percent, already exceeding state-mandated targets under the country's mining charter of 26 percent by 2014 -- politically charged findings at odds with anything the government has said to date.