The Premier of the province, Dr Zweli Mkhize
All provincial ministers
Local councillors
Representatives of business
Ladies and gentleman
It gives me great pleasure this afternoon to be standing in front of you. My staff will tell you that this is probably one of the projects that are closest to my heart. But it is more than just a project.
It represents what we are about – or should be about. It is about the caring society that we strive to build. It is a society that seeks to lend a helping hand to those who find themselves, through no fault of their own, at the receiving end.
It defines our politics and our mission of being servants to our people. In short, ladies and gentlemen, you would be hard-pressed to find a project that highlights such a number of issues that face our society today and enjoining us to rise above our petty jealousies and territories to be the best that we can be.
It talks to the entrepreneurial spirit of our people which should be given space and form but in the current form, it cannot be allowed to continue. A number of people have died here and these deaths regrettable. In the bigger scheme of things, it might not look like many deaths but one death is too many.
Over the years, the department – first as the Department of Mineral and Energy (DME) and now as Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has made many attempts to intervene in this issue but with little success. Those attempts were made in the absence of an approved rehabilitation strategy that would guide processes to be followed for any rehabilitation work undertaken by the department.
In December 2009, I approved the rehabilitation strategy for derelict and ownerless mines. While this particular mine does not necessarily fall within the strict definition of derelict and ownerless mines, because of the special risks and hazards it poses to the community, a decision was taken to rehabilitate it within this programme.
Seeing all of you here today vindicates that decision.
As a result of that decision, the Director-General then established a rehabilitation oversight committee whose primary task was to:
- Permanently eliminate the health, safety and environmental hazards emanating from derelict and ownerless mines
- To return the as much of the disturbed area to sustainable land use for the benefit of the local communities.
It became imperative for us to form meaningful partnerships with all stakeholders – particularly the different tiers of government as well as the private sector and other interested parties. This strategy seems to have paid off as we find ourselves today here to give meaning to this partnership here at Blaauwbosch Laagte.
Suffice to say that it has taken a lot from the various people involved to get to this point, I will not get into the details of everything that has happened since then. I must just add here Premier that we are mindful of the positive role that your cabinet played and will continue to play in this project. In fact, it is heartening to see how you have managed to marshal your troops to this cause.
Many a times, government is accused of coming up with strategies and policies without real action. Our detractors should see what is happening here and I wonder what they would say now. Mining companies have played a crucial role as well in this project, especially with their contribution to the pool of funds for the relocation of the school. This is what we mean when we insist on talking of the social labour plan. It is no pie in the sky but a meaningful, tangible involvement with communities affected by mining.
It would be wrong not to acknowledge the importance of working together – not only as government but government, labour, the private sector and communities. This cooperation has ensured that there is no duplication as different parties do their own things in their little corners. We have worked as one and the result is there for all to see.
The DMR is conscious of the fact that illegal mining exists and it poses particular dangers to society and communities. At the same time, one has to acknowledge the need for economic development and how desperation can drive people to be involved. A lot of work still needs to happen here. Beyond today, serious rehabilitation work will commence.
As government, we take direct responsibility in changing the lives of our people especially when they are involved in dangerous mining that may cost them their lives.
But it is not enough to preach about dangers of illegal mining. We need to act for communities to find alternatives including new streams of income. A number of such ideas have been proposed here including brick making and we would like to urge all the stakeholders to ensure that these ideas translate into reality.
Premier, it would be wonderful to come back here, say a year or two from now and see the progress achieved through this cooperation and what progress has been made in rehabilitating the mine. Houses only don’t make a community and it would be interesting to see how this community has progressed then.
I would like to thank everyone who has worked selflessly in making this project and this dream a reality. As I said in my introductory remarks, the success of this project redefines who we are. Nothing could be nobler.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Minerals
