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Injustice: Despite the mining sector’s profitability, host communities see less than 1% of corporate profits. Photo: Chris Louw/Centre for Environmental Rights
ABRAHAM NUNBOGU

Minerals boom but benefits bypass communities

South Africa is positioning itself as a key player in the global race for critical minerals but new research and warnings suggest those closest to extraction might lose out,…

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
From Doringbaai to Port Nolloth, West Coast communities are pushing back against mining and offshore oil and gas expansion. (Liezl Human/Groundup)
ATLANTIC OCEAN

‘No one asked us’: West Coast fishers oppose offshore oil and gas development

From Doringbaai to Port Nolloth, West Coast communities are pushing back against mining and offshore oil and gas expansion. Residents, activists and fishers say consultation…

  • Milan Burnett
9 min read
At the 2026 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, the emphasis was on digitalisation and technological advancement of the industry. However, the industry recognises that cybersecurity can no longer continue to remain the unaddressed elephant in the room
2026 MINING INDABA

Modernising mining: Cybersecurity must be central, not optional

At the 2026 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, the emphasis was on digitalisation and technological advancement of the industry. However, the industry recognises that cybersecurity can…

  • Billy Petzer
6 min read
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe (Delwyn Verasamy, M&G)
AFRICA

Global rush for critical minerals puts African countries at risk, Mantashe warns

Geopolitical rivalries over minerals are intensifying, placing Africa’s resource-rich countries under pressure, the minister told delegates at the mining indaba

  • Mandisa Makgakga
4 min read
Reindustrialisation, as well as diversified trade partners and dismantled apartheid spatial patterns, will get South Africa out of its socioeconomic mess. Photo: File
AGRICULTURE

Here’s how South Africa can avoid the economic dependency path

It can rebuild the industrial base, create demand in the economy, diversify trade partnerships and deepen links with the continent’s regional trade networks, and, finally,…

  • Khwezi Mabasa
4 min read
Kigali’s bilateral agreements with Maputo and Bangui are underpinned by mining ventures. Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP
BILATERAL SECURITY AGREEMENTS

Rwanda’s security forays buck the trend

Kigali’s bilateral agreements with Maputo and Bangui are underpinned by mining ventures

  • Erika van der Merwe
7 min read
New social contract due: Mining’s harms are mainly to the environment – water, air, and soil, for example – but these have consequences for mining affected communities’ health and their land. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
AIR

Mining’s revival must also deal with its legacy

Little has been invested in mining and exploration, and that includes in social compacts

  • Ross Harvey
7 min read
South Africa accounts for 54% of all exports to the US under Agoa — a trade law which gives eligible African countries duty-free access to the US market for thousands of products including clothing, agricultural goods, crafts and manufactured items.
AFCFTA

30% tariff, 0% respect. Why South Africa must push back against US bullying

Donald Trump’s ‘solution’ to South Africa avoiding the tariff hike – move production to the US – is nothing more than economic blackmail

  • Nkosinathi Mtshali
5 min read
Lithium mines in Zimbabwe’s communal areas deprive people of their land rights, grazing land and water. Photo: Madelene Cronjé
BATTERIES

Mining of critical minerals tramples grazing and water rights in Zimbabwe

Laws exist to protect the environment and people, but these are not enforced regarding mining, in particular lithium

  • Hoitsimolimo Mutlokwa
4 min read
According to Minister Ntshavheni, the miners were stuck in the depths of the earth, which was their own doing, and the state would not be involved in any rescue of “criminals”.
ARTISANAL MINERS

Stilfontein miners have human rights just like you, Minister Ntshavheni

Marikana was a precursor to Stifontein and show the lengths to which the state would go to punish people in protection of corporate interests, particularly in the mining industry

  • Luvo Mnyobe
5 min read
There has been progress since 1994. South Africa now has a black middle and upper middle class but the means of production remain largely owned by white people and black people swelling the ranks of labour. Photo: Mujahid Saofodien/AFP)
AGRICULTURE

South Africa’s economy expands by 0.6% in fourth quarter of 2024

The agriculture sector was up 17.2% and was the largest contributor to GDP growth during the period

  • Aarti Bhana
2 min read
At a minimum, mining organisations must develop context-specific cybersecurity strategies tailored to their unique operational needs. (Photo supplied)
COLUMNS

Cybersecurity is crucial in modernising South African mining

The view that cybersecurity is not a core function must change so that digitalisation does not create vulnerability in the mining industry

  • Jabu Mtsweni
  • Muyowa Mutemwa
5 min read
There are thought to be at least 50 000 informal miners working underground in South Africa. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
ALTERNATIVE MINING INDABA

Zama zamas on the agenda at alternative mining indaba

There are thought to be at least 50 000 informal miners working underground in South Africa

  • Umamah Bakharia
4 min read
The mining industry has the potential to grow if there is more investment in exploration projects. (Michele Spatari/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
COAL

Mining has life, in spite of hitches

The industry has the potential to grow if there is more investment in exploration projects

  • Aarti Bhana
5 min read
The mining industry has the potential to grow if there is more investment in exploration projects. (Michele Spatari/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CONSTRUCTION MAFIA

Procurement mafia a forgotten influence in the mining industry

Also known as the construction mafia, they may even include engineering procurement construction management (EPCM) providers

  • Lionel van Tonder
  • Aaqilah Nagdee
5 min read
The mining industry has the potential to grow if there is more investment in exploration projects. (Michele Spatari/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
AFCFTA

Confluence of geopolitics, energy and trade can drive change in Africa’s mining industry

The theme of the February 2025 Mining Indaba, Futureproofing Mining Today, underscores the urgency of aligning policy, investment and local development to secure sustainable growth

  • Jonathan Veeran
  • Meluleki Nzimande
  • Tobia Serongoane
6 min read
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde delivers a sermon during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
ANGLO AMERICAN

What would Bishop Marianne Budde say if she was invited to the Mining Indaba?

Glencore, Anglo American, South32, BHP Billiton and Exxaro – the mining companies cited in coal class action – need to show corporate compassion for sick mine workers

  • Father Stan Muyebe
5 min read
One of the city’s historic sites is on its knees, besieged by those seeking shelter, vandals and criminal opportunists. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
BRAAMFONTEIN CEMETERY

Breathing life into Joburg’s dying Brixton cemetery

One of the city’s historic sites is on its knees, besieged by those seeking shelter, vandals and criminal opportunists

  • Luke Feltham
12 min read
(Credit: Shutterstock)
BETTER TOGETHER

Building a socially secure future for miners: How MWPF ensures stability for its members

Ensuring a socially secure future for these miners is not just a financial imperative but a social responsibility that organisations like the Mineworkers Provident Fund (MWPF)

  • IRFA
3 min read
Unathi Loos, M&G Investments Portfolio Manager
ESG

Driving social responsibility in the mining industry

In South Africa, mining has been under pressure, with some of the challenges faced to increase volumes or mining output being structural in nature

  • Unathi Loos
2 min read