Modern Quarrying January-February 2016

HISTORICAL FEATURE

‘It is a long-held adage in the industry that the oldest profession in the world is that of a quarryman – because without a road to parade up and down – the lady of the night would not have been able to ply her trade. Not a road, not a railway, not a harbour, nor a building of any kind larger than a grass hut, could have been created without materials supplied from the quarry industry’. Aspasa – a professional body realising its dreams

much respected to this day. Some time ago, he told MQ about the early days of the Association where, in the 1960s, the need for an industry association and a professional body became an issue. “The Transvaal was the first to form an asso- ciation, and in 1969, the South African branch of the Institute of Quarrying was born in Durban. Other associations fol- lowed around the country and it was in the early 1970s that Agfed was formed. “That body tried to make up issues on behalf of the industry and to coordinate industry opinion, but its weakness was that its officers were all full-time employ- ees of one or other of the quarrying com- panies. For that reason, it could not claim a full-time commitment of any one person or group of people and its credibility with the authorities was somewhat doubtful.” He says Agfed was aware of these weaknesses and in March 1990, called a meeting of the captains of the industry at the Institute of Quarrying conference in Durban. “Out of this meeting, a steering committee was nominated to investigate

‘I t is a truism that no develop- ments in South Africa, or for that matter any other coun- try, can take place without a quarry’. This is taken from a paper presented at an industry event in 1994, under the title The South African Quarry Industry – Who are We? It follows with: ‘And yet, because of the nature of quarrying, it is not a favoured industry among the general population. It tends to be regarded as dusty, noisy and a blight on the landscape. The nimby (not in my back yard) syndrome is more strongly applicable to quarrying than probably any other human endeavour’. So what has changed since 1994?

The industry has changed significantly with major mergers and acquisitions with a concentration of producers – legal and illegal. But it still has high and low volumes, ongoing skills shortages, good times and very difficult times. Most importantly though, it has raised the bar. Once called the ‘cowboys’ of the mining industry, credit must go to the Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa (Aspasa), which, since its early beginnings as Agfed (Aggregate Producers Federation of SA), has worked tirelessly to get to this point. The founder and previous director of Aspasa and the Institute of Quarrying (IQSA) Sir Rupert Bromley, is a man

AfriSam’s showplace Peninsula Quarry, October 2015.

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MODERN QUARRYING January - February 2016