Indaba, Kimberley
31 August 2006
Programme Director
Minister of Minerals and Energy - Ms Buyelwa Sonjica
MECs
MPLs
Mayors and Councillors
Business representatives
NGOs and CBOs
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Our country is well endowed with mineral resources. We have a long history
of mining and we also believe that we have a strong mining future. Mining is
central to the economic growth of our province, therefore our people should
ensure that they do not loose out on the opportunities that are available and
fully benefit from the contribution this sector is able to make. As government
we challenge mining houses to contribute to our broader vision of beneficiation
of raw materials by making product available so we are able to create new
opportunities.
We are aware of the level of scepticism amongst the mining industry, who
feels that government is forcing them to beneficiate. Let me assure you that
this is not the case. Our view is that we have to get greater levels of benefit
from our primary resources in order to grow the manufacturing and service
industries of our economy and alleviate the problems of unemployment in our
country.
Mining continues to be the mainstay of the provincial economy of the
Northern Cape province and as such it is important that a reflection is made as
to whether this economic activity benefits the ordinary people of our province
and whether business people from within our province are also able to benefit
from Governments policies regarding broad based black economic empowerment.
It would also be important to develop mechanisms as to how this economic
activity can contribute towards the Northern Cape Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy and the attainment of the targets set in and the overall
economic prosperity of our country and the sub region. In this context it would
therefore be imperative that all role players in the mining sector are
converged to jointly discuss ways and means by which this activity can be
beneficial to all within our province.
This would be in the context of how current mining houses and small-scale
miners can assist in the development of our provincial economy. The Northern
Cape Province produces a number of minerals, precious and semi precious stones
whose mining has not in any way benefited the people of our province. It would
therefore be important to critically look at issues of mining beneficiation and
how the value addition and value chain completion can have positive spin offs
from within the provincial economy.
It is also important to note that we need to further look at other ways in
which mining can stimulate and contribute to other sectors of the economy i.e.
tourism, manufacturing, infrastructure and other economic spheres. We also need
to look at issues of licensing, funding for small scale miners, preferential
mining procurement and other mining related activities in order to optimally
utilise the economic opportunities presented to us by the mineral wealth within
our province.
Having duly considered all these challenges, this Indaba is an ideal
platform that seeks to seriously interrogate past and current practices within
the industry and see whether they fit or they synchronise our developmental
objectives as a province and as a country. I appeal to all of you this morning,
not to use this Indaba as a stage for complaints but a forum at which we can
jointly find ways and means of developing our provincial economy in order to
benefit all and create the espoused better life for all.
This forum should also discuss the link between mining and infrastructure
and see how this economic activity benefits the province in terms of
infrastructural development and or underdevelopment. It would also be important
to engage with the critical question as to whether infrastructural development
is to the benefit of our communities within the province or is it only intended
to benefit those who are directly linked to this mining activity either as
employees or employers.
If the kind of infrastructure that is developed is for the exclusive benefit
of a certain strata of the employees then the question should be asked is there
a need for such development e.g. golf courses. These developments should also
be linked to Local Economic Development plans of our municipalities in order to
ensure a significant spreads of these benefits. The municipalities should also
be able to benefit in terms of revenue collection through the payment of
services and rates and taxes.
It is important that skills development is not only for purposes of
legislative compliance or social responsibility or to claim rebates from the
Department of Labour but to a large extent it should be intended to give the
recipient tools to be productive long after the mines have closed down and
these persons can create a livelihood for themselves.
Skills development is an integral part of economic development and no
economy in the world can survive without continued human resource development,
innovation and technological improvement, thus holistically skills development
is important to economic development. The minerals that are found within the
Northern Cape province have largely contributed to the development of other
economies within our country and other centres around the world and it is thus
important that this province creates leverage for itself in terms of the
resources that are found in this region of our country.
This continued trend can lead to a situation where ghost towns can develop
long after these resources have been mined and they have not contributed to
local development and these mining houses have left the province and our
country.
The amendments to the mining legislation should create the necessary
environment that would allow for the beneficiation of these minerals within the
Province and create the much-needed jobs within our economy and contribute to
our efforts to reduce poverty.
We should be able to look at the different mineral commodities that are
available in the province and how these can be used to benefit the people of
our province and if need be look at the development of enabling Provincial
Legislation and Municipal by-laws to create the necessary environment for
growth. In our quest to ensure that beneficiation benefits the province it
would perhaps also be important to note that National Government has adopted a
programme that is intended to ensure that there is targeted development within
our economy in order to ensure equitable share in the growth of our economy as
espoused in the Freedom Charter.
Programme Director, The role of small-scale miners within the provincial
economy cannot be overemphasised within the context of the development of the
second economy. It is therefore important that we interrogate as to whether
legislation and processes that have been created by government do not pose any
impediments towards the operations of these small-scale operators. We perhaps
need to evaluate whether current modalities are sufficient to allow for
prospective applicants and current small-scale operators to function optimally.
This should be understood within the context of whether there is inhibition
from big corporations or are our own processes in government not stifling
progress in this respect.
It will also be important that we look at mechanisms we can develop of how
we can transform these small operators into at least medium sized operators
with a long-term view to incorporating them into the first economy. I am
raising this point because the question that is always asked is whether our
small-scale operators will perpetually be confined to this status or do we see
them at some point in the future competing with established multi
nationals.
The issue of financing for small-scale miners is also crucial to their
survival and access to capital is therefore very important. The mining industry
by its very nature uses expensive heavy-duty machinery and protective clothing
that is in most instances procured from outside the province. This significant
amount of money spent could well have been spent from within the province in
order to ensure that there is no capital flight and that this primary economic
activity can in a way influence other secondary economic activities from within
the province.
It would be important that mines indicate the total value of investment that
is placed in other non core activities like catering for their living
facilities, protective clothing, and machinery and information technology
supplies is there and where do they source it from. It is important that we
look at ways in which we can try to optimise capital stay within our province
in order to create the much-needed jobs.
Madam Minister,
It has now become more critical for the province to leverage their mineral
wealth in order to directly benefit the people of the province. It is therefore
important to identify those minerals that can make an immediate impact in terms
of economic development and prosperity for the province. The Northern Cape
should be able to ensure that its mineral wealth translates into wealth for its
people and the country.
I now wish to introduce the honourable Minister of Minerals and Energy - Mme
Buyelwa Sonjica.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
31 August 2006
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za)
