Hon Chair, my fellow South Africans, much has been said about President Ramaphosa's dream. It can be compared it to one of Don Quixote songs in Man of La Mancha, to dream the impossible dream, to fight the impossible fight, to right the impossible wrong. Unfortunately, when the play ends, so does the dream, just like our state of the nation address.
Most of the challenges that the mining industry faces, are well documented in the committee's draft report. From our expensive and unreliable electricity supply, to copper cable theft that has affected the effective functioning of our rail system, especially the ability of mines to transport their products to the market. These criminal acts mentioned in the report are all issues that should have been addressed by government years ago, but instead of getting them under control, the ANC-led government has allowed them to flourish. Illegal miners are a
health, safety, environmental and economic threat to our country and a threat to investment. Companies that spend millions of rand to adhere to mining legal requirements are forced to compete on the open market with goods mined illegally at a much, much lower cost. Let me be clear though, that it is the failure of this government to create jobs that has led unemployed people to put their lives on the line by engaging in illegal mining. It is the failure of this government to secure our borders and keep illegal immigrants out that has contributed to the illegal activities in the illegal mining.
Other countries like Rwanda and Venezuela have both introduced very successful programmes to bring the Zama Zamas into the formal mining sector, what is more is that these pilot programmes were actually run by a South African. Why is there no plan in South Africa for us to do the same? We cannot sit in a committee meeting and be told that there is research to back up a positive mining environment, when the increasing unemployment figures, decreasing revenue from mining, decreasing investment, in the committee's very own report tells a very different story. If our high priced and unreliable energy supply is a negative
factor in the growth of the mining industry, then it is time that we allow the mining industry to negotiate directly with small, independent power producers to provide the power to the mining industry.
The Minister of Minerals and Energy now also wants to make mining companies even more uncompetitive, by suggesting that they take over the healthcare of people who are not employed by the mines but live in the vicinity of the mines. If there are no hospitals in rural areas, my question to government is why not? How can you even consider implementing compulsory National Healthcare if you do not have hospitals in rural areas? The second purpose of Vote 29 is to ensure that all South African derive sustainable benefits from the country's mineral wealth. If you visit some of the indigenous communities who live where mines have been built, it becomes patently obvious that in most cases the funds from the contractual royalties are only benefitting a few connected individuals, if anyone at all. What has happened to the contractual royalties that have been paid into development funds for these communities? Have they actually been paid by all the relevant mining companies as required by
law? Many of the communities affected by mining in their area were opposed to clauses in the new mining charter that limit the power of communities when determining how the benefits and development in the industry will be carried out. The development funds or D funds as these contractual royalties are referred to, are in reality controlled by the Premier and nominated officials from the province. As an example, In the case of the Bakwena ba Magopa people, this has resulted in an alleged amount of R350 million rand being spent that has not benefitted the community. In addition to the almost nonexistent record keeping and accountability of monies spent, provincial officials appear as being able to invest money in short term investments yet VBS Mutual Bank comes to mind, without consulting the community that should be benefiting from the money. The lack of benefit to the local communities from the D Fund, the division it has sown and the lack of transparency and accountability as well as the alleged corruption indicates that the issue of contractual royalties is one that needs to be investigated urgently and an alternative way of empowering the local communities.