Cyril should open indaba, say delegates

Mines minister’s lack of credibility means he should not do the honours

● After years of political turmoil and uncertainty in South Africa, many believe that in 2018 the dust will settle and business confidence will be restored.

But will the same apply to this year’s mining indaba, now in its 24th year, if Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane delivers the keynote address, as is traditional?

Companies, unions and industry analysts have called for newly elected ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa to open the conference tomorrow to set the tone and attract investment back to the industry.

But Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Tyrone Seale said on Friday that Ramaphosa would not be attending the mining indaba.

Zwane, who has been the minister for 28 months, has found himself embroiled in a number of corruption allegations, many of which link him to the controversial Gupta family.

National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said the union had lost confidence in Zwane a while ago and although it would not be attending the mining indaba, a credible person such as Ramaphosa should open it.

“We don’t see what he [Zwane] has done for the mining industry. He is useless and has failed to make an impact in the industry. We want him gone so that the capable people can take over. Which investor is going to listen to him?” said Mammburu.

During Zwane’s tenure there had been more retrenchments in the industry. A person who could inspire business confidence in the industry should be opening important events such as the mining indaba, said Mammburu.

Ajay Lalu, MD of Black Lite Consulting, said he would support Ramaphosa opening the conference because the world had seen his stance on the Mining Charter debacle when he spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In the one month Ramaphosa had been president of the ANC there had been a substantial change in the attitude of investors and unions, who were more optimistic about the year ahead than they had been for the past five years.

“It’s a simple thing, he has just given the country a sense of hope. He won’t achieve 100% but if he achieves 50% it’s far more than what the current leadership has achieved,” said Lalu.

Foreign investors would want to hear the vision of the ruling party’s new leadership, especially with regard to the mining industry.

Zwane has also been in a face-off with the industry over the new Mining Charter.

Chamber spokeswoman Charmane Russell said: “The opening address is not a personal one, it’s the country welcoming other delegates into the country, so it’s seen in that light.”

The chamber had been very encouraged by Ramaphosa’s comments in Davos, she said. “There is a move towards better governance and ensuring that the industry prospers . . . It’s not a personal thing, it’s the minister welcoming people to the country.”

When Zwane opened the indaba last year, he and the industry were at odds over the Mining Charter. Version three was released in June last year and was described by the chamber as poorly formulated and making the industry unattractive to invest in.

The issues have yet to be contested in court. An industry representative who did want to be identified said people were placing too much hope on Ramaphosa with regard to mining legislation and he believed that even if Ramaphosa opened the mining indaba, there would be no change to the status quo.

He said he would not attend Zwane’s keynote address although he would be at the indaba; he refused to be in the same room as an alleged crook. “He is so brazen and so crooked that he will show up,” he said.

“The mining indaba is not about South Africa. Foreign investors have written off the South African mining industry and so as far as they’re concerned, we’re not open for business. Nothing has changed. South Africa ceased to be the focus years ago.”

Peter Major, an analyst at Cadiz Corporate Solutions, said Zwane had never been a good minister but too much hope was being placed in Ramaphosa. Even so, he was a credible politician and not a Zuma appointee, so South Africans should give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Zwane is not acknowledged and everyone knows he’s on his way out. We want someone [as a keynote speaker] who will make people write cheques and reach for their wallets,” Major said.

Alex Grose, MD of the mining indaba, said he forecast a 5% increase in attendance this year compared to last year due to the positive changes in South Africa with the election of Ramaphosa as ANC president, the stepping down of Zimbabwe’s veteran president Robert Mugabe, and the election of Angola’s new president, João Lourenço, to follow the 37-year reign of José Eduardo dos Santos.

“There is a wind of change driving international investors to invest offshore,” Grose said. “There are 300 or more investors this year, 37 ministers and 750 mining companies attending.”

There is a wind of change driving international investors