After a very successful opening day at the 2013 Mining Lekgotla the second day looked at one of the most important issues in the South African mining industry today – transformation.
The conference kicked off with a session on ‘Transformation for Growth’ chaired by Harmony Gold’s Mashego Mashego with representatives from Exxaro, Empowerdex, The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), The Black Business Forum and the Department of Mineral Resources.
Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources, Godfrey Oliphant said, “One area we have to get right is taking decisions and actually implementing them. But implementation needs commitment from leaders. I have no doubt that we have the best leaders, but they must rise to the sophistication of today’s mining industry.”
Chief executive of Empowerdex, Vuyo Jack compared the current state of the mining industry to music, where classical and revolutionary approaches to mining need to make way for Jazz.
The second session of the day looked at the inclusion women in mining. It was here that Anglo American in South Africa’s executive director Khanyisile Kweyama joined a panel consisting of women representatives from NUM, Kgalagadi Manganese and the Department of Mineral Resources.
After lunch, session three began with labour relations taking the spotlight. Here we saw representatives from the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, Solidarity, NUM, The Department of Labour and Andrew Levy Employment, take the floor.
Dr Elize Strydom, senior executive of employment relations at the Chamber of Mines of South Africa identified five issues in industrial relations that the mining sector needs to look at.
Later in the afternoon five breakaway sessions were held concurrently dealing with ownership, employment equity, community and enterprise development, procurement, and beneficiation. CEO at Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore Norman Mbazima chaired the discussions on community and enterprise development, and CEO of De Beers South Africa Phillip Barton chaired the beneficiation discussions.
“The challenges faced by the mining industry and the country require collective solutions between all stakeholders. It is therefore important to form strategic partnerships with likeminded organisations and governments in finding solutions and in implementing them to ensure maximum impact,” said Mbazima.
Overall passions ran high as transformation is a topic close to everyone’s hearts and opinions varied, but the commitment to a more sustainable future always remain the same. It is clear that the mining industry still has a long way to go but we cannot ignore the good that has already come from collaboration.
After discussions surrounding competitiveness and transformation enlightened mining delegates over the first two days of the 2013 Mining Lekgotla, day three will focus on the future. Tomorrow the conference will delve into pertinent topics such as building future leaders through skills development and the future direction of mining policy. Anglo American Platinum CEO Chris Griffith will be leading a discussion on the future of policy in mining. We look forward to the end of what has been an illuminating and inspiring second edition of the Mining Lekgotla.