Honourable Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs, MPLs,
Comrades and Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I like to begin by thanking the organisers of the Summit for focusing our minds on the key subject of job creation and employment opportunities. Nowadays, the world over, the most pressing issue facing the majority of developed and developing nations is the issue of jobs, and especially employment opportunities for the youths. We are all too aware that our country, and all its regions and provinces, are saddled with the triple evils of structural unemployment, widespread poverty, and excessive inequality of income.
In among the battery of solutions that we need to use, the creation of sustainable jobs and employment opportunities is most pivotal. It is common knowledge that at the national level, our government has placed a great deal of emphasis on collaborative approaches to growth promotion, industrial development and jobs creation. The Department of Trade and Industry through IPAP2 and the Department of Economic Development through the New Growth Path have identified a range of opportunities and introduced a number of initiatives to achieve job creation and sustainable development in the country.
As we explore our options towards the creation of sustainable employment opportunities, it is critical that we place emphasis on the real opportunities that we do have in the province. In the jargon of economics, we need to work with our socioeconomic endowments. Our task it is to facilitate, accelerate and augment the real economic and investment opportunities that the province offers.
As we do so, we should be mindful of the broader goals and objectives as set out by the Provincial Development and Growth Strategy. It is pleasing to note that the strategic objectives of the province are well articulated, the challenges are clearly known and the need for multi-stakeholder partnership is recognised. I emphasise this point because the nature of the task in hand, namely job creation is such that the highest success is achieved only when all the social partners collaborate, positively engage in the process, and rise above the common divisive practices. Globally, the trend is towards the recognition of the importance of collaboration, as opposed to contestation, in tackling the political economy challenges facing the society.
In the Northern Cape, our over-arching economic goal appears to be the need for diversification of the province’s economic structure. Historically, the primary source of economic activity has been mining mainly in diamond, asbestos and iron ore. Whilst these activities have brought much benefits in the form of jobs and income, and other developmental results, they have also left behind serious human, social and environmental scars. A case in point is the plight of the community and individuals afflicted by asbestosis. Another case is the poverty and desperation left behind by the depletion of diamond mining in the province. Likewise there are severe negative environmental impact arising from iron ore mining. These and many other cases highlight the imperative of approaching mining differently.
If we in South Africa in general, and in the Province specifically, are to succeed in
extracting maximum benefits from our mineral endowment, we must do things differently. The operative word is “doing differently’. This means doing governance differently and it also means the industry must rethink its organisational and operational processes. We cannot afford to go through another phase of extractive mining or “mineralisation of the province”, and leave behind a heap of painful socio-political and destructive environmental legacy. Rather, a decade from now, we should boast a new dispensation in mining and mineral beneficiation- a new paradigm that is conducive to social upliftment and economic development.
It is therefore our collective obligation to ensure that the considerable wealth of natural endowment is utilised to generate socio-economic benefits and integrated development for our communities and our nation. To this end, not only do we need to expand the industry, but also avoid the undesirable consequences, and to ensure a mining industry that is socially progressive, environmentally sustainable, and economically competitive.
As we reflect on a paradigm shift in the mining sector, it is stating the obvious that we cannot continue to mine and export ore and other raw materials for processing elsewhere, as this severely limits the benefits we can derive from the exploitation of our natural resources. There is therefore a need to increase value addition to our minerals before they are exported, in line with government’s new mineral beneficiation and industrialisation priorities.
In my visits around the country, it has become clear that the Northern Cape Province enjoys some real and large scale opportunities in mining and mineral beneficiation- and these are possible in the short term. In addition to iron ore, the recent developments in manganese mining provides real opportunities for beneficiation in the form of ferro manganese and related alloys.
As importantly, the province has a considerable reserve of zinc. In addition to the existing Blackmountain and Swartberg mines, the Gamsberg mine is believed to be the single largest zinc mine in the world. This too offers real opportunities in the near future to establish zinc smelting and related industries. It is estimated that a systematic development of these industries will lead to large scale job creation (ie 4000) during the construction of the mines in the short term, with subsequent 2000 jobs during operational phase thereafter. In our discussion with the Vedanta Group, they have expressed firm commitment to fast tracking investments in these operations.
A by-product of zinc mining and smelting is a considerable amount of sulphuric acid which together with the province’s known reserves of phosphate can lead to the establishment of a viable fertiliser industry in the Northern Cape. Once again, indications from the industry participants are encouraging, and confirm the prospects for the creation of a fertiliser industry with considerable job creation capacity.
My purpose in going to some details here is this: we need to integrate our opportunities and ensure that we create not only diversification in the Province’s economic base, but also establish the required scale in economic activities to justify the logistics and related infrastructure. Meaningful sustainable job creation will result from such integration.
If we take the above line of thinking a bit further, it is feasible to envisage a viable industrial hub in the Northern Cape which will integrate zinc mining industries, phosphate mining, fertiliser industries, the development of Port Noloth as a commercial port with all the inter-connecting rail and other logistics. Add to this industrial complex the growing solar and wind energy industries and then we set the stage for the establishment and development of a diversified industrial hub in the province.
The recently announced SKA Project is another complementary and high profile element in this integrated complex of industrial promotion of the Province. Its capacity for profiling the province and for bringing cutting-edge research and technology to the region is considerable.
In the context of the above industries and mineral beneficiations opportunities, the establishment of the Northern Cape University assumes a special significance in creating a centre of human resource development, skills generation and scientific research. The close integration of the University’s capabilities with the industries and economic opportunities within the province is critical. The synergies in this regard are promising indeed.
As I have attempted to illustrate, today South Africa enjoys a considerable range of opportunities for integrating our mineral beneficiation and industrialisation programmes in order to enhance the pace of social development and economic growth. This approach to mineral beneficiation and industrialisation calls for a much higher degree of coordination within the public sector and across the private and public sectors.
As we approach mining and mineral beneficiation differently, in a number of areas we have to consciously, proactively and systemically do things differently. In amongst them is the design and operations of our post-Apartheid cities. Learning from our own history, we should avoid the emergence of dividend, inefficient and operationally expensive Apartheid-like cities of the past.
Instead, we ought to focus on energy-efficient, socially integrated, and operationally efficient and competitive cities. As we enter the new century of mining and mining related industrialisation, we need to now reflect on the legacy that we like to leave behind. The urban and environmental landscape that we bequeath to our children has to be dramatically different from what history has bequeathed to us. This is our collective responsibility and it will arise from our collective choices today.
At the same time, the competitiveness and sustainability of our mining activities and other industries will, to a large extent, depend on the degree to which it adopts ‘green technologies’ and sound environmental practices. It is a fact that all over the world, the mining industry is synonymous with the destruction of the environment and the land potentially useable for agriculture and food production. This dichotomy has to be managed carefully and responsibly via sound and concurrent environmental rehabilitation management practices.
Clearly we stand at a critical juncture in our country’s and province’s history. We are busy defining the path for our next phase of social development going forward. Our focus is firmly on sustainable job creation. As we join forces and mobilise all the stakeholders to this end, I remain highly optimistic that given the province’s economic potential, the opportunities for industrial diversification of the Northern Cape economy are considerable. It remains for us to join forces to unlock these opportunities, leading to employment creation and socio-economic upliftment of our communities.
I thank you.
Speech Delivered by Honourable Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant, MP at the Northern Cape Job Summit and Job Fair
