South Africa, Ms BP Sonjica, delivered at the African Mining Partnership (AMP)
plenary held at Southern Sun hotel, Elangeni, Durban
5 February 2009
Colleague ministers, Chairperson and Members of the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Minerals and Energy
African Union (AU) Commissioner of Trade and Industry, Ms Tankeu,
Captains of the mining industry, President of National Union of Mineworkers
(NUM) and labour representatives here present
Members of the press; distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
On behalf of the people and the government of the Republic of South Africa,
I humbly extend to you all, a warm welcome to this, the sixth consecutive
African Mining Partnership Plenary. The port city of Durban (Ethekwini) is the
largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). It boasts the busiest port
in Africa and is literally festooned with excellent tourist attractions,
including, albeit not limited to, the cultural heritage, warm subtropical
climate and beautiful beaches. This province accounts for about 2,5 percent of
primary mineral sales and 49 percent of revenue generated from selected
processed mineral products. It is therefore not a coincidence that the
secretariat deemed it fit to bring this plenary to yet another beautiful South
African province.
The Republic of Ghana has recently experienced a change of government,
following yet another democratic election. Consequently, our chair is not
present at this plenary meeting. However, my colleague, the Minister from Mali,
in his capacity as the vice chair of the African Mining Partnership (AMP), will
preside over the proceedings of this plenary.
The sixth AMP plenary coincides with the global financial crisis whose
ramifications could pose a serious threat to the sustainable development agenda
of the mother continent. We need to close ranks to weather this financial
storm. It threatens the limited pool of jobs we have created in the minerals
and mining sector.
Without any doubt, the economic meltdown will deepen the poverty levels and
severely impact on the prospects of economic growth within the continent. It is
against this backdrop that I firmly believe that our collective effort,
rigorous enforcement of the strategic frameworks which underpin our various
projects and indeed the drive to harmonise our policy environment, should all
be focussed on creating demand for the consumption of the large repository of
mineral resources within the belly of the mother continent. This will lessen
the extent of our external dependencies, which inherently creates
vulnerabilities with significant negative impact in respect of the continental
growth and development in such environments of crises.
Shadrack Gutto who heads the Centre for African Renaissance Studies at
University of South Africa (UNISA) writes that "the resistance to colonial
occupation and foreign rule that culminated in the attainment of independence
and liberation by most African countries by the 1990s can be considered to be
the beginning of the reawakening of Africa and the resolve to regain the
continent's position at the forefront in the development of human
civilisation."
I further submit that as champions of Africa's Renaissance, we have a duty
to extend Africa's reawakening to our beloved continent's mineral resources'
heritage to improve the lives of our people. The extent of reform of mining
regulatory regimes undertaken by the bulk of African states to create
attractive investment conditions as well as significant improvement in fiscal
discipline and governance is a demonstration of Africa's readiness to take
advantage of the African century. Not so long ago, the continent was riddled
with political instability, but one is proud of the progress made to date with
only four countries on the continent remaining unstable. It is our belief that
the African solution is imminent.
It has since become abundantly clear that the principles of a developmental
state must be fast-tracked. While I concede that more regulation is utterly
unnecessary, yet better and smarter regulation is critical to advance our
collective drive. I will argue further to say that state intervention is
necessary for co-ordinated development to take place because such a development
requires not less state as some would contend, but better state action.
I would also like to thank the organisers of the highly successful Mid-Term
Executive Committee meeting held in August 2008. A number of specific
directives emanated from the extensive engagement among executive committee
members and attending delegates. I keenly await the report of the preparatory
meeting of officials, which will be utilised as a yardstick of progress against
specific outcomes of the said directives.
It is also apt to convey my sincerest gratitude to the AU Commissioner here
present, Ms Elizabeth Tankeu, who provided leadership in co-ordinating the work
of the task force on Africa's mineral resources, constituted by the African
Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
and the African Development Bank with contributions from the AMP. In addition,
the commissioner bravely took on the task of convening the African Ministers
meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last October, which concluded that both
the declaration and mining vision will be adopted at this plenary meeting of
the African Mining Partnership.
The proposition of the mining vision clearly articulates the drive towards
Africa's industrialisation programme through its abundance of mineral
resources. The development of this vision is consistent with the broader
continental development agenda. I keenly await the pronouncement of the outcome
of the meeting of the African Union Heads of States that was held in Addis
Ababa last week pertaining to the prospects of institutionalising the AMP as a
Ministerial structure of the African Union. This will help to streamline and
expedite initiatives aimed at cultivating the continental economic growth
through its mineral resource endowment, such as the AMP, the Mining Vision and
others.
In conclusion, I wish to reiterate my welcome to you all and congratulate
the secretariat for successfully organising our meetings.
Programme Director; kindly allow me to express my sincere gratitude to the
African States for their continued support of initiatives by the AMP. I also
cherish the hope that the AMP will grow in strength and assist in guiding the
minerals resource heritage of the continent into a sustainable and prosperous
future for Africa. In Barack Hussein Obama parlance, "Yes, we can."
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
5 February 2009
