Chair, I will take advantage of this extra time. According to the National Development Plan, the NDP, the mining industry in South Africa has lagged behind global competitors in the past decade for reasons which include poor rail, water and energy infrastructure and a regulatory and policy framework that hinder investment. The ACDP holds the view that the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Bill contradicts the NDP's call for regulatory reforms that provide policy certainty, and calls on the Minister to address this contradiction.
Regulatory stability is crucial in the mining industry, which has to think decades ahead when making investments. Certainty about the rules they will operate under is so important. Onerous and unpredictable regulatory change, or existing regulatory requirements being enforced in an arbitrary and unequal manner are a huge stumbling block to investment.
On another very important aspect, the ACDP welcomes the latest environmental guidelines report, which starts an important process of finding a balance between two extremes: destructive mining and extreme environmental demands.
With labour challenges, land use issues, rising costs, weakening currencies and pricing, constrained budgets and more than 30% of platinum companies in the red, the mining industry is in crisis.
The additional challenge of stricter environmental measures could seem like a potential final straw, but fears are countered by promises of greater sustainability. This is much bigger than the mining industry and will require changes in thinking, culture, technology, the education of leaders and investment plans. Hon Minister, does the budget take these issues into consideration? Will it adequately facilitate the necessary working together of government, industry, communities and NGOs to find sustainable solutions together?
Moving on to the subject of beneficiation, a Chamber of Mines senior executive has pointed out that too little attention has been given to side- stream beneficiation, which is playing an important role in South Africa's economy, creating 1,3 million jobs and accounting for about 19% of gross domestic product and 20% of investment. Existing downstream beneficiation in South Africa, at the same time, is worth R300 billion, creating about 150 000 jobs. Support from both government and mining companies in side- stream and downstream processes is going to be critical.
For there to be successful beneficiation, almost all government departments have some role to play, including those that deal with Basic Education, Higher Education and Training, infrastructure, Transport, Energy and Mineral Resources.
But it is important that one government department take the lead. The ACDP calls on the Minister of Mineral Resources to provide South Africa with a champion for beneficiation and to ensure we no longer lag behind.
Industrial sociologist Gavin Hartford last year placed the migrant labour system at the heart of South Africa's mining unrest, saying that its punishing yearly work cycle spawned social evils. It is with this in mind that the ACDP notes mining union pioneer Dr James Motlatsi ...