Speaker Highlights

“Criminality in the mining space often comes up as one of the top risks for mining companies. PwC believes that the socioeconomic environment around mines is one of the key risks impacting on mining operations, and that often presents itself in criminality, either through illegal mining or other criminal actions in the mining value chain.” Andries Rossouw – PwC

“We spend a lot of time with our clients planning the closure [of mines] properly, but what’s been a new element recently is that some of the mining houses are doing social closure plans, which are essential and need to feed into the physical reclamation and rehabilitation plans. . .” Graham Trusler – Digby Wells Environmental

“We are experiencing crime at various levels. There is the subsistence criminal, that steals a piece of metal with the aim of selling it by the end of the day to put food on the table . . . right up to organised crime, where people either come to your fence with semi-automatic weapons, or they establish syndicates inside and outside your footprint.” Niël Pretorius – DRDGOLD

“There are four ingredients that provide a prosperous ecosystem for organised crime, and South Africa ticks the box in almost all of these. The first is economic inequality, second is a rampant crime rate, third is widespread corruption in government and individuals, and fourth is poorly performing State organs.” Nash Lutchman – Mining and allied security professional

“I am a strong supporter of fostering strong global, regional and local cooperation, and strengthening mechanisms and strategies to successfully address the threat, with a specific reference to strong investigative and intelligence capabilities.” Brigadier Hennie Flynn – SAPS