Right. Thank you. The ACDP, whilst aware of the huge contribution made by mining to the economy, is also aware of the special treatment that has been reserved for mining on land not zoned for it. We do not condone breaking the law with impunity by any industry. The executive director of the Centre for Environmental Rights, Melissa Fourie, has said that the consequences of decisions made on mining operations, without proper regard for other authorities and other pieces of legislation, are severe. They have aggravated the detrimental impact mining operations have on the environment and have not benefited the country, the mining industry, mineworkers or communities.
The Constitutional Court judgment that holders of mining rights cannot mine until the land has been zoned for mining marks the beginning of the end of decades of special treatment for the mining industry.
The ACDP supports calls for government to establish a commission to investigate how South Africa's mineral rights were "recklessly given away" after our attaining freedom from apartheid. Commentators say that giving away the nation's mineral resources to new owners without tendering has cost the country jobs, and they are optimistic that this commission will lead to more reasonable stewardship of mines and miners. They use the example of the Aurora Empowerment Systems' disgrace, where about 6 000 miners have gone unpaid for many months, with their families living in terrible conditions. The mineral rights conversion process, during which the state became a custodian of all mineral rights, is said to have been fraught with irregularities.
On the tricky question of the nationalisation of mines, the Chairperson of Gold Fields, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, has said:
I think that anyone with an understanding of the mining industry will know that no government has the capacity to mine ...
Even the mining industry is struggling to find the mining skills, capital and equipment to sustain it. So how could a government, struggling with major issues in the education sector, the health sector and even state- owned enterprises, hope to run the mining sector?