Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Following his appointment by President Jacob Zuma on Sunday, Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi has embarked on a series of consultative engagements with key mining stakeholders aimed at unifying the besieged industry.
Ramatlhodi, an advocate by profession, said in a statement that the engagements would ensure that all stakeholders, including labour and business, “pull in the same direction” for a sustainable mining sector.
“This essentially implies that stakeholders should focus on working together so that we move South Africa forward and ensure we achieve our objectives as set out in the National Development Plan,” he noted.
Ramatlhodi’s comments came as Labour Court-facilitated talks aimed at resolving the over-four-month-old wage strike in the platinum mining sector continued at an undisclosed location in Johannesburg on Monday.
The Labour Court was mediating between Lonmin, Impala Platinum, Anglo American Platinum and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, to end a 124-day strike that had been marred by violence and intimidation and had led to the death of at least five mineworkers.