Modern Quarrying October-November 2017

AROUND THE INDUSTRY EDITOR’S COMMENT

No confidence vote by industry for DMR Minister

T he Chamber of Mines is still calling for ethical leadership and good governance in govern- ment. Speaking in early September at the African DownUnder Conference in Perth, CEO Roger Baxter had three clear messages for investors: • Mining is important for South Africa. • The South African mining sector is in crisis. • There are solutions to ‘restoring the dream’ of a prosperous, growing and transformed mining sector. He confirmed that key governance and policy chal- lenges in South Africa have eroded business and investor confidence, saying that“policy and regula- tory uncertainty have frozen new investment in the sector. It is extremely difficult to get any company investment committee to approve any new green- fields project in South Africa today.” Real mining GDP in 2016 of R226-billion was less than the R242-billion reported in 1994. Real mining fixed investment has shrunk over the past two years, with large parts of the industry continu- ing to report losses. Baxter said it was very concerning that the Minister of Mineral Resources in his presentation at the same conference, had paid scant attention to this crisis.“Perhaps this is because the DMR has pro- vided no assistance to help the industry through the crisis.”He further noted that the industry is very surprised that the Minister claims to have received positive feedback from any investor on the DMR’s Charter, or the state of the industry. “This has not been the industry’s experience, and it is the industry that engages with investors and raises capital on a regular basis.” He stated that the Chamber and its members have lost confidence in the DMR Minister and in his leadership of the DMR. “Significant corruption allegations against the Minister and the DMR have not been cleared and the proposed judicial commission of enquiry into state capture has not been established. The indus- try does not believe that the approach adopted by the DMR is serving the national interest of the country. The negative impacts of the unilaterally imposed Reviewed Mining Charter, the proposed Section 49 rights moratorium, the non-resolution of the Charter ownership issues, and the imposi- tion of inappropriate Section 54 safety stoppages, for example, have created a major crisis for the sec- tor. The industry is of the firm view that the DMR’s Charter is designed to benefit a select few at the expense of the whole country.” Then, in early October, the Chamber of Mines was criticised for not attending the Joburg Indaba

banquet at which Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane was guest speaker. “It was not an impetuous decision nor was it one based on personal animosity towards the Minister. It was a carefully considered decision based on the current regulatory and judicial situation,” the Chamber says. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba’s preconfer- ence gathering attended by some 300 people, Indaba chairperson and former CEO of Harmony Gold, Bernard Swanepoel, said that the best way of confronting the problems of the mining indus- try was through interaction at events like the Joburg Indaba. And calling him “my brother from another mother,” the Minister thanked Swanepoel for giv- ing him an opportunity to speak to people with mining wisdom. Swanepoel is correct in saying that the indus- try and the DMR need to find common ground, but surely he of all people should realise that had the Chamber attended the event, it would have been forced to engage with the Minister on spe- cific regulatory issues in circumstances that are not conducive to any constructive engagement, other than through the courts; and given the fact that the last time the Chamber shared a platform with the Minister – in Perth – the outcome wasn’t at all constructive. Let’s face it; the Minister has a very question- able history. He came in as Minister seemingly with the primary task of strong-arming a legiti- mate rights holder of a major mining asset, con- spiring with then Eskom leadership to apparently force the sales of a mine to a well-known family that has systematically robbed SA of public funds. This story was comprehensively documented by the Public Protector. Prior to that, in his pre- vious position as Free State Agriculture MEC, his alleged role in channelling hundreds of millions in state funds to the same family for the estab- lishment of a dairy at taxpayer’s expense has also been comprehensively documented with, again, no attempt at an explanation by him. What say you Minister Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane? Can you look at yourself in the mirror every morning and say that you are a good, ethi- cal leader and the right man for the job? We don’t think so.

3

MODERN QUARRYING

October - November 2017