Deputy Speaker, hon President and Deputy President of South Africa, it has been widely said in this august House and elsewhere that the state of the nation address this year provided a clear focus on the task that lies ahead of us as we seek to build the developmental state to which the ANC-led government is so stoically committed.
Hon members, we are grateful to the President for having given us our marching orders to grapple with the question of how best to use our bountiful mineral resources to build a society that brings benefits to all its people. Times are most challenging. Recession is biting in different parts of the world and we are determined, in the face of these challenges, to rise to the occasion and to work hard within the parameters announced last week by the President.
We need to work together across different political parties to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all those who live in it and where there are no two South Africas. In this regard it is unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition made a point about what she called an alternative vision for South Africa. We should not repeat the mistake of the past by striving for a partisan alternative vision for South Africa. Instead, we require a vision for a South Africa Incorporated, founded on the urgent need to address the triple evils of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
We must create a South Africa for all the people that is not alternative but mainstream and essential. In this spirit I would like to outline some of the priorities that my department has set itself. I speak from the vantage of that most significant centre, mining and mineral resources, which has underpinned our economy for well over a century.
As the President reminded us in his state of the nation address, democratic South Africa inherited a problem of structural unemployment going back decades. The New Growth Path introduced in 2010 identified the mining value chain as one of the key drivers of jobs. The year 2010 also marked the first year since the recession started that the mining industry was able to pass the half million mark in employment. Preliminary figures for 2010 indicate that the sector has continued growing its employment, with 15 000 net new jobs created between September 2010 and 2011.
South Africa is developing a rich history of social dialogue. It was part of this proud tradition that led to the establishment of the tripartite Mining Industry Growth Development and Employment Task Team, Migdett, which looked into the issues of arresting job losses and of the future growth and labour absorption of the sector. Working through this structure, we developed a growth and competitive strategy for the mining sector. In terms of this, the sector committed itself to job creation. Job creation figures released recently are encouraging and indicate that we are slowly but surely on course to meeting our goal.
The growth and development of the mining industry cannot be delinked from addressing historical inequalities and imbalances in our society, especially in the mining industry. We have come a long way on issues of transformation. This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the promulgation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, MPRDA.
The MPRDA effectively vested the custodianship of South Africa's minerals in the state. The Mining Charter, on the other hand, introduced targets for transformation of the sector. Since the implementation of the Act and the Mining Charter progress made in deracialising the sector is noticeable, but we are mindful that this is not satisfactory. For instance, the issue of historically disadvantaged South Africans is still a matter when it comes to management and decision-making. The involvement of women, the issue of procurement and supply, and the low levels of human resources and skills development are still challenges. We acknowledge that we need to do more work in these particular areas.
In the state of the nation address the President announced the amendment of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act. My department stands ready to ensure that the Mining Charter and the industry at large remain responsive to such an amendment. My department will also be dealing in a decisive manner with the incidents of noncompliance with the Charter and the prevalent cases of fronting within the industry. Some of those issues are before our courts.
As a sector we are greatly encouraged by the plans on infrastructure development unveiled by the President in his state of the nation address. This intervention responds to one of the binding constraints to growth and development of the mining industry. As a department we remain committed to collaborating with other stakeholders in the intergovernmental structures, in order to ensure that the critical infrastructure blockages delaying investments in the mining sector are addressed. Many of these were highlighted in the President's speech and include investments in rail, road and bulk water infrastructure to unlock the mineral potential of the Waterberg and Steelpoort regions. Unlocking this potential will also be critical in addressing the longstanding infrastructure bottleneck of energy security.
As the soon-to-be-released Coal Resources and Reserves Study, led by the Council for Geosciences, reveals these regions host a great share of South Africa's remaining coal endowment. This was a study done together with Eskom. The increased infrastructure will have the potential to increase our mineral export receipts and also serve the cause of local beneficiation.
The state of the nation address reminded us again of the importance of the beneficiation strategy, approved by government to address the important issue of adding value to South Africa's minerals. This is an obvious way of furthering the interest of our own economy, notwithstanding the views of sceptics.
There have been numerous studies of our mineral endowment, some of which I have shared with you in the past, and I am happy today to hear some members in this House also reflecting on the reserves that we have as a country. I must also indicate, hon Meshoe, that we have stated before that the issue of nationalisation is not a government policy. We are still saying that, but you continue going back to this particular issue. I don't know whether you are part of the prophets of doom or if you are part of those who want to see this sector succeeding. You go back all the time. You can only go back if you do not hope that this sector grows and is successful in creating jobs and a better South Africa.
Too much of this mineral wealth is still exported as raw ore, while we import manufactured products from those same export destinations. This is essentially an exportation of jobs and economic value. Our New Growth Path and the associated Industrial Policy Action Plan are, contrary to the views of some members of this House, a call for a paradigmatic shift in our mineral exploitation so as to maximise the long-term returns from our endowment.
As emphasised by the President, we need to increase the level of the beneficiation of strategic minerals in a way that will expand downstream opportunities and align those efforts with our industrial development imperatives. This means a value chain focus on enhancing the value of exports, stimulating investment in manufacturing and creating opportunities for sustainable employment creation.
The beneficiation strategy will also contribute to the development of another key job driver in the New Growth Path, namely the knowledge economy. My colleague, hon Pandor, spoke about this earlier on. This will be done through increased research and development, innovation, and the development of competitive advantages, as linked to our priority value chain. These are the priority value chains which we believe we will be able to present to the Cabinet in March this year: iron ore, energy commodities, autocatalytic converters, diesel particulates and titanium. We have completed implementation plans for the first two and will focus this year on the finalisation of the remaining three. We will implement them hand in hand with the relevant government departments and industry stakeholders.
As we reflect on the historic outcomes of 17th Conference of the Parties, Cop 17, held in December 2011 in South Africa, we look forward to the Rio+20 Summit to be held in Brazil later this year. Government will engage the mining industry to do more to support our commitment to sound environmental management and to explore programmes that will reduce the carbon footprint.
We will embark on a review of the Environmental Management Programmes of holders of old order mining rights to bring them in line with the MPRDA, as well as address inadequacies of financial provisions. This will ensure that we do not bequeath liabilities to the next generation, for it deserves nothing but the best.
We will work hard to ensure that the mining industry moves beyond the words, as Ben Okri would say, for words sometimes mean absolutely nothing. We will ensure that we continue to apply, without fear or favour, provisions of section 54 to ensure that we reduce the carnage in our mines. We will do so as we attend to legitimate cases of concerns that may arise in the application of the law. We will also work through Migdett to deal with the concerns of the industry.
In this regard, I want to condemn in the strongest terms the violent assault and death of Ms Binky Moseane at the Khomanani mine in Rustenburg. She was robbed of her right to life in a senseless and brutal act. This incident is not only shocking, but must not be allowed to take root in the mining industry.
Women have fought long and hard to earn their right to contribute meaningfully to this industry. I therefore wish to call on all businesses to take stringent measures to ensure that mines are made safe working places for women, where the principles of gender equality are wilfully implemented. [Applause.]
Women need to be protected and an enabling environment created for them to function without fear, harassment and discrimination. Management must take responsibility by putting systems in place to ensure that the incident that led to Ms Moseane's death is never repeated. It is our expectation that we will never have to witness such an incident ever again, as it does not have a place in this industry and in South Africa. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Business suspended at 15:53 and resumed at 16:09.