(from Kimberley to Johannesburg) for the newly appointed Managing Director at
De Beers Consolidated Mines, Mr David Noko
19 January 2006
Programme Director
The guest of honour, Mr David Noko
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
The Business Community
Ladies and gentlemen
We are gathered here tonight to pay tribute to one of our distinguished son
of Africa. Although others decided to call this a farewell, it is more
appropriate to say it is a celebration of an outstanding achievement. We are
not here to say goodbye to Mr Noko but to honour and wish him well in his new
responsibilities at De Beers Consolidated Mines.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight as we celebrate his achievement we are called
upon to reflect on the contribution that both Mr Noko and De Beers made in the
development of our province. In about seven days from today our province will
be celebrating one year of the launch of the Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy (PGDS). As many of you will recall, the PGDS is a jointly determined
plan for the sustainable growth and development of our provincial economy. This
plan is an outcome of a consultative process amongst all stakeholders from the
public, private and parastatal sectors together with labour and civil
society.
We highlight this because it was through the leadership of Mr Noko that De
Beers Kimberley played a very important role in both the formulation and launch
of the Northern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. In the same
breath our sense of pride and delight at your appointment is not only because
you are the first black Managing Director in the 100 plus years of De Beers
operation, but also because contrary to the sentiments expressed by your
detractors, we are aware that your appointment was based on merit. We have no
doubt that a man of your distinguished business pedigree, academic background
and experience as well as leadership skills will ensure that De Beers continues
to contribute to the growth of the South African economy.
We are also encouraged that De Beers is beginning to deliver on the issue of
transformation. There was point when many people expressed frustration about
the slow rate at which the De Beers Board of Directors was embracing
transformation. On the other hand, there is often than not a tendency in
certain quarters of society to dismiss appointments of black executives as
token. This is also exacerbated by the recent waves of companies fronting as
black economic empowerment (BEE) companies. Nonetheless the people of the
Northern Cape are well aware of your credentials and achievements thus far. We
are mindful of the fact that before joining De Beers you were a successful
Professional Engineer. In addition, we are cognisant that you successfully
managed De Beers operations in Kimberley since assuming the key role of
operations manager in 2004. Most importantly your reign in Kimberley saw an
achievement of a milestone production of two million carats in 2004, a feat
that was last achieved in 1914. It is against this background that we
demonstrate so much confidence in your abilities.
Programme director, as we are gathered here tonight to wish Mr Noko well, we
also remember his contribution to development in our Province. In particular we
are mindful of your centrality in the Kimberley Big Hole Project. This is one
of the very important projects that are expected to contribute to the
sustainable growth of our provincial economy. The Big Hole Project will be
providing business opportunities for Northern Cape small to medium businesses
and suppliers to develop their potential. In addition it is envisaged that the
project will create about 217 jobs directly in the operation of the facility-
with the number increasing to at least 350 by 2008. This development will make
a direct contribution to the contract we signed with our people to fight
poverty and create work.
An achievement such as this as well as the nature of today's gathering
compels us to reflect on the progress we are making in the transformation of
our country. It is for this reason that the following section of this speech is
dedicated to a reflection on transformation. The time is opportune for us to
think about transformation because the appointment of Mr Noko as the first
black executive is central to the issue of transformation.
Historical aspects
Ladies and gentlemen, in order to understand the importance of
transformation particularly as it relates to mining it is important to take
into account its history in South Africa. There is no doubt that mining has
played a very important role in the development of South Africa in the past and
continues to do so. Although in the past the benefits of mining could not be
enjoyed by all citizens because of the policy of separate development, mining
remained the cornerstone of the South African economy. In fact gold mining in
particular has played a significant role in the economic development of the
country over a period of at least more than 120 years.
It must nonetheless be noted as Nelson Mandela observed in 1994, that our
past is such that an industry, which can boast so many achievements because of
its centrality to our economy, must also portray some of the worst of our
society. The history of South Africa resulted in mining communities and women
largely being excluded from participation in the economy. Amongst other things
although Kimberley is among the cities that led the industrial revolution and
remains the capital for diamonds in South Africa there is very little for the
city to show off. Furthermore mining franchising in South Africa is
characterised by a disproportionate level of representation of black people in
the ownership and control of franchise businesses.
Transformation
Nonetheless the developments around the transformation of the management
structure at De Beers encourage us to acknowledge that this industry has made
some progress in an attempt to address some of the challenges facing our
society. It is for this reason that we continue to value the importance and
centrality of the mining industry in our society. Its achievements and
contribution to economic productivity is truly remarkable. A crucial foreign
exchange earner and a substantial contributor to economic production, for a
long time it remained a leading employer, second only to agriculture, and a
leader in the field of scientific and technological research.
Be it as it may, the history of the mining sector in South Africa calls for
robust transformation in the current phase of governance. Over and above
developments that I mentioned earlier, the most encouraging of all is the
commitment of mining companies like De Beers as enshrined in the Mining
Transformation Charter. Amongst other things the formal mining industry
expressed its intention to adopt a proactive strategy of change. This strategy
includes commitment to foster and encourage Black Economic Empowerment and
transformation at the tiers of ownership, management, skills development,
employment equity, procurement and rural development.
Although the Mining Transformation Charter can be lauded as a milestone,
transformation remains a central issue in this sector. The recent audit on
economic transformation highlights the fact that while blacks occupy an
increasing share of management positions and are the most likely to be
promoted, on average blacks are also the most likely to lose their jobs. It is
this phenomenon that has resulted in the proportion of managers and
professionals who are African dropping. According to the Employment Equity
Commission's most recent report, the professionally qualified and middle
management levels show a drop in both black and female representation between
2000 and 2002. The fact that this is also driven by a significant drop in the
proportion of black women is even more disturbing.
This scenario alerts us to the fact that transformation remains one of the
most pertinent issues of the contemporary South Africa. It is for this reason
that we derive joy from achievements such as that of Mr Noko. These
achievements contribute in some way to the transformation agenda.
De Beers BEE Deal
Programme director let me take this opportunity to reflect briefly on the
recent De Beers BEE deal with Ponahalo. In line with the commitments expressed
by the mining industry through the Mining Transformation Charter, we witnessed
as De Beers went through with its Black Economic Empowerment deal. This deal
which was announced sometime last year represents the biggest change to De
Beers's ownership since the company's foundation in 1988. Recent BEE deals left
little to be desired particularly around the inclusion of workers, women and
people living with disabilities. To this end, we are encouraged by the fact
that of the 26 per cent shares acquired by Ponahalo 50 per cent will owned by
South African based De Beers employees and pensioners. In addition, the
inclusion of women, people with disabilities, and communities living around
DBCM mines must be applauded.
Although others expressed the usual suspicion, the De Beers BEE deal has
been hailed in other progressive quarters of society as being a better one by
far in contrast to the other highly acclaimed so called BEE deals. This
assertion is based on the fact that it is without the so called "usual
suspects" and that diamond mine workers, past and present are
beneficiaries.
Furthermore, the fact that Ponahalo is chaired by our own Manne Dipico gives
us hope that indeed the interest of the poor and communities will be
significantly promoted. We do not say this because Manne is the former Premier
of the Northern Cape and comrade to us. However, we are aware of his passion to
fight against poverty and that his experience as a former diamond mine worker
and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) shop steward will ensure that this new
partnership with De Beers will lead to the betterment of workers and the
communities of diamond mine workers.
The communities that were historically dependent on employment in the mining
industry have recently been adversely affected by the closure of mines. Many of
these communities that are now known as ghost towns have been left impoverished
without any alternative source of employment. To this end it is worth noting
that the R5 million that would flow directly to communities will go a long in
addressing some of the challenges of poverty in the historically mining
communities.
Concluding Remarks
Ladies and gentlemen today as we send off David Noko and reflect at some of
the challenges facing our society, we challenge him to continue ensuring that
De Beers makes a contribution to the broad transformation and development of
our country. We hope that as government of the Northern Cape we can also count
on your assistance as we work towards the betterment of the quality of the
lives of our people.
At the same time we wish to extent a hand of warm welcome to Mr Erwin Rana
who succeeds David Noko as operations manager at Kimberley Mines. We welcome
you the Northern Cape Province and Kimberley in particular, confident that you
will continue we David Noko left. It is our hope that it your own way you would
also ensure that De Beers expands the role it plays in the development of our
province.
We welcome you and hope that your tenure at De Beers Kimberley Mines will be
a productive and prosperous.
I Thank You!
Ke a Leboga!
Issued by: Premierâs Office, Northern Cape Provincial Government
19 January 2006
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za/)
