Thank you, Chairperson. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the House for their contributions. The contributions made by all members were most positive, which shows that the mining sector brings us together as South Africans. We share a common vision of how we can best make sure that the mining sector responds positively to the challenges we face in South Africa. However, the question of workers and safety is a priority.
I welcome and thank hon Mnguni very much for the lecture he gave in the House today. Thank you very much! It makes all of us understand and helps us become "bush miners" who can then contribute more positively. It really helps you. You know, "bush miners" are sometimes the best, because their knowledge tends to be simpler and easier to understand than that of one who is theoretical and tends to implement matters in a way that does not take us forward.
I also welcome the hon Van Lingen's input, making sure that we all realise that we need to hold one another's hands and work together in ensuring that we achieve the objective of the Freedom Charter which states that the wealth of the country must benefit all those who live in it. This is a process that will take all of us there.
The history of the mining industry cannot be underplayed in South Africa. It is a history that we have to correct. It is a history that must change. We must make sure that South Africa's mining industry becomes a dignified one; a mining industry that any person in South Africa is able to access. So, hon members, it is not about me - it is about all of us changing the lives of ordinary people, especially in the mining communities and also in the "sending towns" where our miners come from.
I welcome the reference to the issue of ensuring that our young people participate. The issue of reskilling and continuously making sure that our young people in South Africa can find jobs and joy in the mining industry is imperative and we cannot underplay it. If we are to create sustainable development in our country, let everyone be skilled.
We have gone past the era where we had Fanagalo. We have gone past the era where you were a "general worker". The mining industry has advanced. However, it cannot advance further when our people are left behind and are not skilled. Hence we will use the Mining Qualifications Authority to make sure that our young people are skilled.
We are offering scholarships. I must indicate to the House that we have 24 young women to whom we have offered scholarships, and we are calling them "ministerial girl-children". In five years' time they will come out of university and be able to join the mining industry. [Applause.] Transformation in this country cannot be achieved if women are not going to be treated equally and enabled to participate.
One of the issues is the safety of women who are currently working in the mining industry. This is an imperative. We are going to continue supporting the National Union of Mineworkers, NUM, in an effort to create safety for women in the mining industry, where currently women are seen as being secondary. Safety clothes for women are also part of the priority.
Qualifications are a priority to us. We are not going to compromise on that in the mining industry. We will not allow this industry to be a secondary sector in the economy of our country. It is a key sector and it contributes. We have to regard it in that way and make sure that skills are developed and that the industry contributes continuously.
When it comes to the issue of share ownership, I must indicate that if you look at the Mining Charter, one of the critical issues is that we say communities in surrounding areas must benefit. However, they cannot just benefit by having a crche. They must benefit by our making sure that skills are taught to those local communities, and also that employment is created. They can also benefit from shareholding. If we are able to do that, we will see a different South Africa. We are not going to compromise on the Mining Charter; we will implement it in a way that takes us forward. The integration of communities and mining companies, as well as working together in terms of the social plan and the labour plan are critical aspects that we are not going to compromise on.
I know inspection is hurting the mining companies, but we will make sure that the safety of workers is a priority. You know, there are those who believe that we must relax the inspection, but we are not going to do that. We are going to increase it. For the sake of our people, profit cannot be more important than the lives of our people. Zero tolerance, zero harm: that is our approach. We want to achieve our target in 2013. We are not going to compromise on the safety of workers. They are very important. As we have indicated, they have children and they have wives, and we can no longer have a mining sector that behaves like it did in the past. We have to change.
We say we must be a country that has been modernised, but we cannot be such a country if we do not recognise that workers' lives must also be modernised. The issue of the workers' living conditions is critical and we are engaging with the mining companies in this regard. There is improvement, but we are not there yet. We need more. We have to scrap the migrant labour system. We must scrap single-sex hostels and there must be family units all over. We believe that if we are able to achieve that, this country will be different.
Young people must not see the mining sector as a sector that is not ... What do they call it? They have their own language! They must not see mining as "not sexy", if I can put it that way. [Laughter.] They must see it as a sector that can be "sexy" and attract young people. If we can reach that point, we can say we are there; we have arrived. It cannot be that some can arrive and others can't. These are some of the issues. We have to make sure that we have a branded mining industry; an industry that can be attractive to any individual in our country.
The last point I would like to make is that the House must help us. It must help our inspectors. We have inspectors and we have capacity. The challenge is that when it comes to standards in the mining industry, they do self- regulation. We judge them according to standards they have set for themselves. When we use section 54, we apply it on the basis of how they have regulated themselves. When we find that they are not compliant, they want to complain. Yet they have set their own standards, the ones they thought were best! When we cry foul, they think we are stopping them and making them uneconomical.
However, we are not going to compromise. Lives are more important than profits. We cannot compromise, and we can no longer afford to have a situation where greater profit is made at the expense of the workers. Workers are important. Workers are human beings and the rights of workers must be respected by everyone in this country - this includes the mineworkers. They are no less human than the rest of the people in South Africa. This is the key issue. We will continue to haunt employers who do not comply. We will continue to make sure that they realise that red blood comes out of all of us when we are injured - there is no difference in the blood that comes out! We are all important in this country, including the workers of South Africa.
The struggle for the workers will continue. We will also continue celebrating Workers' Day and making it an assessment of whether we are amaking gains and improving the lives of the workers. I thank you. [Applause.]