ADDRESS BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT, KGALEMA MOTLANTHE, AT THE CHAMBER OF MINES OF
SOUTH AFRICA AGM DINNER, JOHANNESBURG COUNTRY CLUB: 02 NOVEMBER 2009
Programme director;
Minister of Mineral Resources, Ms Susan Shabangu;
President of National Union of Mineworkers, Mr. Senzeni Zokwane;
President of the Chamber of Mines, Mr. Sipho Nkosi;
Distinguished Members of the Chamber;
Guests, ladies and gentlemen:
As you all know, mining is dear to my heart. I spent many years in the
National Union of Mineworkers, including as General Secretary. So I have met
the Chamber many times over the years, sometimes in a friendly atmosphere and
sometimes in not so friendly circumstances. In all our encounters, however, it
has been common cause that the mining industry has a central role to play in
forging a better life for all South Africans.
Our challenge is that mining plays a dual role in our society. For over a
century, the industry has been central to our development in both the good and
the bad. It was the bedrock of industrialisation and growth, and still
contributes over half of our exports.
But it was also, undeniably, an architect of the apartheid system centred on
migrant labour. There began what continues to haunt our country and the region:
breaking of African families as men left their homes to live in hostels,
apartheid spatial planning which skewered resource allocation to town councils
serving rand-lords and complete neglect of social and economic amenities
required in African communities.
The question we now face together is how to build on the best in the industry
– our world-class expertise, competitive technologies and rich natural
resources – to overcome our troubled legacy and establish a more equitable,
inclusive and sustainable economy. As government, we see the creation of decent
work opportunities as the central path to this end. The question is: how can
the mining industry do more to help us in this crucial process?
Programme Director,
The Chamber has a critical leadership role to play in helping its
constituency, and indeed the mining industry as a whole, to be more responsive
and sensitive to the challenges of our times.
South Africa is now in its second decade as a democratic State which endorses
and upholds the principles of private enterprise within a free-market system.
When the people of South Africa bestowed upon us the mandate to govern this
country in 1994, we had some understanding of the depth of the structural
reforms and the transformation we would have to undertake in order for us to
adequately deliver on this mandate.
Our mandate simply required us to create a better life for all by, among
others, restoring the dignity of the majority of South Africans that was eroded
by years of degradation and oppression, moving away from the oppressive labour
regime that had underpinned employment relationships under the apartheid rule,
building a sustainable and competitive economy and generally creating
conditions in which the wealth of our country could be equally shared and
exploited by all of our people.
Fulfilling this mandate has required extensive changes in the legal framework
and regulations affecting the industry. Our challenge is to ensure that
transformation to benefit the majority of our people goes hand in hand with
measures to strengthen the mining value chain.
Ladies and Gentleman,
These policy interventions embody commitments that have been, after extensive
consultations and discussions, accepted by all stakeholders in this industry as
a vehicle to help us effect a decisive break with our past.
It is therefore appropriate that we pause and reflect on these commitments.
This will help us to redefine our role in the next 120 years of the industry.
While there are a number of achievements that we should be proud of as an
industry, there are challenges that still lie ahead of us.
As always, a particular challenge remains improving health and safety. We need
to curb the fatalities and injuries that have characterised our mining industry
for more than hundred years.
I am confident that over time more investment in the relevant technologies
coupled with training and appropriate monitoring will minimise accidents and
thereby prevent loss of human life as far as possible.
We must also recognise the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the persistence of TB and
other communicable diseases as a particular problem for the mining industry. We
see the Chamber as an important partner in the fight against this scourge.
Addressing these challenges will help the mining industry to deal with the
accusation that it prioritises profits over the health and safety of the
workers.
More recently we have had to deal with the international economic crisis,
which has seen a sharp fall in most commodity prices and only limited recovery
so far. Although South Africa has weathered the global financial storm so far,
our mining, particularly the diamond and platinum sectors, has been under
tremendous pressure.
We are very concerned about the impact of these trends not only on our
companies, but also on workers. In the past year, the mining industry has lost
thousands of jobs –some 7% of its total employment, according to the Labour
Force Survey.
These job losses have imposed huge costs on some of the poorest households and
communities in our country, We are grateful to organised business for working
with us to limit retrenchments, but much more needs to be done.
Ladies and gentlemen,
For quite some time now, there have been concerns that the industry has not
transformed as quickly or sufficiently as it could. It is these concerns that
have fuelled a call for nationalisation of mines from some quarters of our
society.
Whilst this healthy debate continues, the sector should take comfort in
knowing that there are no immediate plans from the state to nationalise the
mines. Public discourse should be separated from public policy. The latter is
an outcome of extensive multi-sectoral consultation within ANC-led government.
However, we do need to expedite the transformation of our industry. That
transformation cannot be limited to changing the nature of ownership, but must
enhance the contribution of the industry to development, the creation of decent
work opportunities and sustainable growth.
I am told that the Department of Mineral Resources is finalising its
assessment of the progress that has been made in achieving the objectives of
the Mining Charter, as agreed upon by the industry stakeholders when the
Charter came into effect in 2004.
I urge you all to cooperate in this exercise so that we can enrich our
discourse on transformation. We as government are committed to broad and
meaningful consultation with all our stakeholders. We need to ensure that the
implementation of the Charter benefits, above all, our communities and workers
and our economy as a whole.
A particular concern around transformation is to ensure the mining industry
contributes to diversification and growth of our economy.
To enhance the value of exports, localise imports and create sustainable jobs,
government has developed a beneficiation strategy which seeks to encourage the
mining industry to facilitate downstream minerals beneficiation.
This is necessary to facilitate economic diversification, expedite progress
towards a knowledge-based economy, achieve incremental GDP growth in mineral
value addition and create opportunities for enterprise development and skills
development.
Our core concern is to explore how we can together support final fabrication
of metals, rather than focusing on smelting and refining. That kind of activity
may seem beyond the competency of the mining companies. Still, it is important
that we collaborate in achieving our aim of industrialisation as far as
possible.
Beneficiation presents numerous opportunities for investment in the country by
both South African and foreign investors. We look to the Chamber to help us
realise the opportunities that arise from adding value to our rich natural
resources.
Ladies and gentlemen,
A credit to the industry, and the Chamber as its voice, is the high level of
cooperation and trust that it maintains with its stakeholders. We appreciate
the efforts made to ensure meaningful transformation.
Our people have high expectation on the mining industry to maintain and expand
its socio-economic development in the country and the region.
In meeting this demand the Chamber will need to persist in its commitment to
the inevitable processes of change that are so critical to recognise and
respond to. You must be the brains-trust and provide intellectual leadership.
For its part, government also recognises that the success of the next 120
years of the industry can be greatly facilitated through creating the
environment that enables the industry to perform optimally and perpetuate its
established role as a creator of jobs and a generator of wealth. We will in
particular prioritise our public investment programme that aims to ensure
sufficient infrastructure as well as skills development.
I thank you.
Sent via my BlackBerry Device from Vodacom - let your email find you!
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