Can you introduce us to yourself and the Minerals Council South Africa?
I am the CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, an advocacy and impact organization whose members represent 90% of South Africa’s mineral output and which employ close to 480,000 people. The Minerals Council membership includes large blue-chip multinational mining companies, mid-tier companies, and prospecting and mine-development entities. About half our membership is comprised of junior miners and exploration companies.
I have more than 30 years of combined experience in the resources industry, working in gold, platinum group metals, and coal, and in investment banking in corporate and project finance. I have held various board positions as non-executive directors in various listed mining companies and unlisted entities. I have been intimately involved in stakeholder engagements and strategy. I am the current chairman of the board of The Impact Catalyst the former chairman of the Wits University Mining Engineers Association (WUMEA), and the former president of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM).
I hold a BSc degree in mining engineering from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits). I have completed various leadership development training including the Senior Management Development Programme from the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology (GIMT), the ABSIP Leadership Programme with GIBS, and Advanced Management Programme (AMP) with INSEAD.
How important is the mining industry to South Africa’s economy and growth?
The mining industry continues to play a significant role in South Africa’s economy, and it remains a catalyst for change. In 2023, it generated R$190B in taxes and royalties, with a direct contribution to gross domestic product of R$444B. The mining industry has an important multiplier effect, with purchases of goods and services, the use of logistics, electricity and water, and the payment of nearly R$190B in salaries to its employees. The effects are seen in employment of industries supplying and supporting the mining industry, for example.
Please see this table for 2023 data.
Mining at a glance:
The Minerals Council has four key areas of focus, namely infrastructure, safety and security, exploration, and safety and health in our quest for zero harm.
The Minerals Council is an active participant through its membership of Business Unity South Africa in addressing South Africa’s four key crises, which are energy, transport logistics, crime and corruption, and water. Electricity supply has stabilized, with the private sector contributing skills and resources to Eskom to assist the power utility to stabilize its power plants.
Additionally, the mining sector is the largest investor in renewable energy projects as it reduces its carbon footprint. The most recent data we have from Operational Vulindlela (OV) indicates total private sector utility-scale renewable energy projects now numbers more than 130, amounting to approximately 22GW or 22,500MW, with an estimated investment value of R$390B. Within this, about 70% of the projects are related to mining.
Applying 70% to the above numbers gets us to the following for mining:
• About 90 projects
• Almost 15,800MW (15.8GW)
• Almost R$275B in investment
Our members, particularly in the coal sector, are assisting Transnet Freight Rail, securing railways from crime and vandalism and buying spares and batteries for idled locomotives. Tonnages railed to the ports for export clients have stabilized and the decline in performance has been arrested. We are encouraged by the regulatory changes underway to facilitate the private sector’s participation on rail and port corridors, which we believe will be the game-changer to increase export tonnages.
On the crime and corruption front, we are seeing police action to address illegal mining. The support of forensic capacity, call-centre operations, and prosecutorial bodies are important steps towards tackling our high levels of crime and to support investor sentiment towards South Africa.
Our member companies in the Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces are playing a leading role in securing potable water supplies to communities, mines, agriculture, and other businesses, thus supporting livelihoods in both these regions
While these initiatives are largely focused on the operational environment of mining, we are also working with our members on the just-energy transition, reducing their carbon footprints, improving relationship with host communities, and encouraging the creation of sustainable mining communities that will endure once mining in their area has ceased.
Our primary focus is to ensure mines are safe, healthy, inclusive places of work where everyone returns home unharmed. We are doing this through CEO-led interventions and programmes as well as through our health and safety teams.
Since 1994, the number of fatalities on mines has decreased by 88% from 484 to 55 in 2023. Injuries have decreased by 75% to 2,080 from 8,347 in that period.
The industry is paying particular attention to the key areas that have historically contributed the largest numbers of fatalities and accidents.
For example, the Fall of Ground Action Plan (FOGAP) has contributed to the number of fatalities from falls of ground significantly reducing by 95% to 15 from 239 in 1994. The industry reported a record low of six FOG fatalities in 2022, which is a 97.5% reduction since 1994, a true indication that the FOGAP is working.
Our focus on transport and machinery incidents has resulted in fatalities from this agency decreasing by 91% to 8 from 87 three decades ago.
We have also made significant inroads in reducing cases of silicosis and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), with reductions of 90% and 86% respectively between 2003 and 2022. In addressing TB, the industry has gone from being a hotspot for the disease in the early 2000s to well below the national average.
Health and safety of all employees in the industry remains of paramount importance to the Minerals Council and our members.
What do you think should be the main focus at the moment to help grow South Africa’s mining industry? What’s needed to help encourage this?
The revitalization of the exploration sector is a critical requirement for the long-term sustainability and growth of the South African mining industry. It is vital that the regulatory administration environment is made investor-friendly and streamlined to encourage investment in the South African prospecting and mining sector.
The harmonization and streamlining of regulations and policies across government departments that relate to mining, such as water and sanitation, forestry, fisheries and environment, trade, and industry, and agriculture, is essential.
The introduction of a transparent, functional, modern mineral cadastral system is one of the key elements to provide reliable, accessible geological data, and mapping to potential investors which will, together with an improved regulatory environment, reignite interest in South Africa’s minerals. The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) has committed to the implementation of a cadastral system by June 2025.
A stable, investor-friendly regulatory and policy environment is equally important as mining jurisdictions around the world compete for investment and growth. We are in talks with the DMPR about critical minerals. South Africa already produces many of the critical minerals the country and the world needs to transition to a low-carbon future. Through improved geological mapping combined with a cadastre that makes this information freely or cost-competitively available, South Africa can play a greater role in the global critical minerals market.
What message would you give to attendees of Mining Indaba and 121 Mining Investment Cape Town this year? What should international investors take away from these industry events?
That South Africa (Mzansi) is at work. In local terms, Mzansi@work. The Minerals Council and broader business, as represented by the apex business grouping, Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) are starting to see results from their efforts in engaging with the presidency and government ministries, and state-owned enterprises to arrest the decline of economic performance. We are working together on the national goal of stimulating inclusive economic growth and employment opportunities.
The mining industry is playing a key role in catalyzing economic growth through its inherent multiplier effects for far-reaching and broad- based benefits for all South African citizens.
