The 2014 Mining Indaba is set to get underway on 3 February and one of the topics that will inevitably arise is the issue of politics and how the mining industry plans to deal with an ever shifting socio-political climate.
South Africa is no stranger to political change. In fact, it is a country built on a rich political history. As a mining company – with mining being one of the most influential industries in the country – Anglo American cannot ignore the political landscape. Working with government, as well as labour unions, is a critical step in the mining process and the business has made significant strides in maintaining these relationships in what has been a challenging few years for the industry.
Associate Professor of Economics at Rhodes University, Gavin Keeton said in the 12th edition of the A Magazine, “The most critical factor (to restore faith in the industry) is stability, both in terms of the ‘rules’ of mining and the infrastructure on which it depends. In its 20 years of democracy, South Africa has been through more than a decade of structural changes, all of which were essential. But just as the BBBEE changes were negotiated and bedded down, along came the talk of resource nationalism, and then the policy instability which created anxiety in the mining industry.”
But Keeton noted that there is progress being made with the amount of collaboration currently taking place within the industry between mining companies, government and various stakeholders. Anglo American’s executive director in South Africa, Khanyisile Kweyama believes that despite immense challenges, South Africa’s mining industry, government, communities and stakeholders have pursued collaboration and kept a constructive conversation alive.
“A decade or two ago, this conversation might not have started at all,” said Kweyama. “It is this kind of willingness to work together that will help our industry retain its position as a driver of economic growth and an agent of change.”
All these stakeholders share a common interest in ensuring the local people and communities share fully in the benefits of a mining operation, and that mining investments benefit the country as a whole, not merely a selective elite.
“This common interest lies at the heart of successful collaboration,” said Kweyama. “We need to display a genuine desire to understand the underlying community development issues that mining operations face, and view these operations within the larger economic and social life of surrounding communities.”