eTV: OpenNews
Friday, 15 March 2019
Interview analysing the problems of inclusion in the South African mining industry and the inability of the state to implement the Mining Charter. The discussion evaluates the source of the lack of inclusiveness in the South African mining industry, the historical background and legacies of Apartheid and the migrant labour system which depressed wage costs, and the current context of the slow recovery of the sector after the 2014 commodity price slump. The interview analyses the weak role played by the government given its top-down approach and the hostility of private sector players in the sector. The discussion also unpacks the possible solutions to the impasse and how the mining sector can be revived and set on more sustainable path, environmentally and socially as well as financially sustainable. The discussion also looks at the poor corporate governance challenges prohibit growth and transformation in the South African mining sector, and how the interest of communities are overlooked in pursuit of financial sustainability at the expense of social and environmental sustainability.