Mining needs to emulate NDP’s vision

MINING companies need to consider developing a Mining Vision 2030 in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) to repel negative perception and enable the sector to be treated as a national asset, the executive director of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, Joel Netshitenzhe, said yesterday.

Mr Netshitenzhe, a former member of the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee, told the Mining Lekgotla that for SA to grow 5% a year and create 11million jobs by 2030, government, business and labour leadership must share the same vision.

Mining companies should use profits to diversify into other industries and to play a greater role in the industrialisation of local economy because in the current arrangement, foreign shareholders benefited more from South African minerals.

Politicians were growing frustrated with the country’s continued status as a commodity exporter rather than as a manufacturer or processor of goods. In the May 7 national elections, political parties that had embraced the NDP won up to 93% of the votes, which was “beyond the level of sufficient consensus”, Mr Netshitenzhe said.

However, he said, parties that campaigned for the nationalisation of mines, historically, only managed to get less than 1% of the votes.

This had gone up to 6%, he said, referring to the arrival of Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and this showed that voters were warming up to the idea as they were not benefiting from the status quo.

Former ANC MP Ben Turok said exporting raw minerals was “a quick fix”. A step-by-step approach was needed to move towards beneficiation, starting with offering mining companies local services.

Both the EFF and the ANC have said in Parliament that the producers of minerals should be required to allocate a fixed amount of at least 20% of their total output for local beneficiation, which is a key aspect of the NDP. They want this percentage to increase over time.

Sasol Mining chairwoman Nolitha Fakude told the lekgotla that regulatory framework must allow for beneficiation. Sasol generates power using natural gas, easing load on the national grid.