JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Chamber of Mines said on Thursday that it had been caught by surprise by the appointment of the new director-general of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

While the chamber acknowledged that the appointment of the director-general was the prerogative of the Minister, it believed that consultation with key stakeholders was important before the announcement was made.

“We have been caught by surprise by the announcement,” the chamber said in a release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online, marking a firm end to a long period of chamber diplomacy.
 
The Cabinet's endorsement of Advocate Thabo S Mokoena on Wednesday, announced by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Thursday, has clearly set the cat among the mining pigeons.

The chamber made the point that although Mokoena was a lawyer by training, there were concerns about the depth of his mining industry knowledge and experience, more so given that the industry had a twin challenge of attracting investments and also dealing with challenges of transformation and inclusive growth.

It added that leadership capabilities were very important to deal with such imperatives, which are immediate for the industry and the country.
 
It cited as issues facing the industry, economic viability, policy uncertainty, a DMR draft Mining Charter that had many unworkable targets, static investment, falling employment and a South African mining industry that was now ranked seventy-fourth out of 104 mining jurisdictions in the Fraser Institute ranking for investment attractiveness, all of which will pose significant challenges for the new director-general.

The chamber, under CEO Roger Baxter and reinforced by the presence of senior public affairs executive Tebello Chabana, has had to grow more assertive in the face of these challenges, worsened by a Minister on a gazette-happy,  go-it-alone mission.

More challenges are building up against the mining sector, exemplified by the Cabinet not only endorsing the appointment of Mokoena, but also this week approving the gazetting of a draft Mine Water Management Policy for public comment, introducing more mine town, health and labour obligations and President Jacob Zuma serving notice during his State of the Nations speech that a new Bill will be presented to the South African Parliament to strengthen the State’s role in the industry, currently already dogged by legislative, regulatory and administrative tensions between government, business and labour.

The DMR said in a media release to Mining Weekly Online that Mokoena, who holds an LLB degree from the University of the Western Cape as well as a postgraduate diploma in law, will commence his duties in April, when he will take over from David Msiza, who has been acting in the director-general position.

Former director-general, Dr Thibedi Ramontja,  resigned at the end of 2015 after four years of service and at the time the department said a new director-general would be appointed “in due course”, which has taken all of 14 months.

MORE OBLIGATIONS

The mine-water policy draft endorsed by the Cabinet on Wednesday holds on more obligations for the mining industry, with parties now potentially liable for negative effects and damages of acid mine drainage, related pollution and any other negative impacts that can be related to it.

The policy also seeks to propose mechanisms that mining companies should explore to better manage their water.

The implementation of relevant findings from its Australian Mining Industry Benchmarking Study tour, of August 2015, by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Revitalisation of Distressed Mining Communities, also came into play in Wednesday's Cabinet note to the media. The study tour was premised on comparing the policy, legislative frameworks and practices of mining companies in Australia, Chile, South Africa and Zambia.

Aspects of progress in the mining sector in the country, the Cabinet note to media said, included partnerships between government and mining companies in delivering decent housing and living conditions for mineworkers and community members.

It added that a review of mining companies water treatment plants was being conducted to assess the possibility of infrastructure partnerships.

It also said that spatial transformation plans for mining towns had been finalised for five municipalities.

Catalytic economic development projects were being implemented in labour sending areas, with an emphasis on agriculture and fast-tracking of increased access to medical assessments for former mineworkers, community members and current mineworkers.

The Department of Health had, the Cabinet note added, been given permission to work closely with the DMR and other partners in the provision of supportive services to former mineworkers with occupational diseases.

Moreover, approval had been given to the Department of Labour and the DMR to study the different Australian mine commuting models to assist long-haul South African migrant mineworkers to commute home more frequently. 

A request was made for the Department of Human Settlements to fast-track the implementation of integrated human settlements projects - all these in collaboration with mining companies.

More pressure is unilaterally being exerted on an industry already loaded with obligations and this is being increasingly met with strong resistance and forewarnings of legal intervention.

‘Lawfare’ is beginning to loom large as the DMR and the industry square up to what looks like being a contest that will not provide South Africa with what it so urgently needs, namely  jobs, jobs and more jobs, brought about by a strongly growing economy.