Energy and Minerals Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka warned mining companies on Monday not to neglect the so-called ”soft issues” contained in the new Mining Charter, such as training, in favour the central question of mine ownership.
Addressing an economic empowerment conference in Cape Town, she said that for the empowerment vision to succeed, companies needed to meet all the targets on scorecards used to measure transformation.
”For example human resources in the mining sector. We want progress on literacy up to adult basic education training level ‘four’ or the equivalent of standard seven, with 100% literacy of the workforce within five years. If this does not happen, they (mining companies) could lose their licenses,” she said.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said the first five years of the Charter’s implementation were critical. With a quarter of South Africa’s workforce employed in the mining sector, it was particularly important that the industry’s education programmes succeed.
”There is such a fuss of human resources because it is the most dynamic form of empowerment.”
She said housing and nutrition were equally important pillars of empowerment as ownership, employment equity and skills development.
”We hear a lot about of equity, and when we think about the real economy and fundamentally turning around the economy … then companies must be prepared to meet these soft targets and we need to be very firm (on these targets),” she said.
The minister said among the lessons that could be learnt from the mining and energy sectors with regard to empowerment, were that partnerships needed to have value-added dimensions, that there needed to be mechanisms to punish companies for ‘fronting”, that policy frameworks were necessary and that women must be properly included — ”not just as appendages”.
She said the Western Cape needed to position itself with regard to the mining industry, with the region possibly adding value to finished products such as jewellery.
”It can have its own Bond Street like in the United Kingdom, where people can buy expensive jewellery”.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said the region could also exploit the petroleum, nuclear and other energy industries, with a lot of procurement opportunities available in these sectors.
Earlier at the conference, Department of Trade and Industry deputy director-general Lionel October said that the four principles underpinning the government’s empowerment strategy were that it be of a broad-based nature, inclusive, feature good governance and enhance economic growth.
”We must ensure that empowerment is not only about compliance and about easing the cost (to companies), but (it) must be about growth and the underlying imperatives to unleash the energies of both black and white entrepreneurs in order to grow the economy,” he said. – Sapa