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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African economy could no longer afford the damaging “blame game” under way in the crucial mining sector, which needed to take urgent steps to prepare for the inevitable next commodities boom, Xstrata Alloys executive director Mike Rossouw said on Wednesday.
Speaking during a national radio debate on SAfm’s AMLive, hosted by Dhashen Moodley, Rossouw described South Africa as being “100% dependent” on mining to grow and transform its economy in that the country’s secondary and tertiary sectors were totally mining dependent in some cases and largely dependent in all cases.
The current mining decline was worsening South Africa’s already negative balance of payments at a time when the country needed money to grow and transform.
“We really need to understand mining’s role as a dynamo of the South African economy,” Rossouw added, to support from former Anglo American South Africa head Kuseni Dlamini, who called for recognition to be given to the mining industry’s advances on virtually every single front.
Rossouw said it was no longer helpful to deny the ascertainable facts of mining’s indispensible economic role.
“Firstly, let’s get the big facts on the table so that we don’t ever have to waste our time debating them again.
“Secondly, let’s decide where we want to be and by when, and thirdly, let’s agree the solutions and then damn well implement them,” Rossouw said, on the day that the amendments to Deputy President Kgaleme Motlanthe’s draft framework agreement on sustainable mining are due in.
Earlier, Dlamini, who is also a former CEO of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, said that South Africa needed leadership that united the country around a compelling sense of common purpose and, with an eye on a positive rebound of the commodities cycle, for government to create an enabling environment.
“We’re unfortunately far from the main global markets so we need to make sure that our railways system works very well and we need to ensure that our ports are also jacked up so that we have our act together for the next commodities boom.
“When the last commodities boom was in full swing, we didn’t have our act together, and as a result we missed out. This is a strategic opportunity for us to prepare ourselves for the next boom,” said Dlamini, recalling that Citibank found South Africa’s $2.5-trillion minerals endowment to be the world’s greatest by far, well ahead of Russia’s and Australia’s.
He called on the country to take steps to unlock that potential wealth to its fullest to drive job creation.
For South Africa to have such high unemployment while sitting on such potential wealth was inexcusable.
Rossouw said that South Africa was not doing itself a favour by failing to prepare for the boom through getting costs under control and elevating people relationships.
“What we can’t afford anymore is the blame game. We must end it,” added Rossouw, who also chairs South Africa’s Energy Intensive User Group.
Their comments came as Lonmin announced the postponement of Wednesday’s scheduled Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration meeting with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) over union recognition.
Lonmin agreed to an AMCU request to delay the talks until July 29 in order to allow the Deputy President-convened government, business and labour engagement to take its course.
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