Meeting shows mining is winning govt recognition
Business Day (Johannesburg)
February 29, 2000
By Renee Grawitzky
Johannesburg - If nothing else, the recent mining summit meeting had
achieved an important political "victory" for employers and trade unions,
sources close to the process said.
The summit ensured that the industry was given the kind of recognition
key players believe it should receive from government.
This view was reinforced by the presence of a number of key cabinet
ministers and the frequent appearance of President Thabo Mbeki, who
stated that mining remained critical to the economy.
More importantly, Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, who has been portrayed as the "energetic minister", is
not afraid of shaking up an industry once inextricably linked to apartheid
practices.
The fact that there was insufficient preparatory work did not deter her from
pushing ahead with the meeting.
Mbeki reiterated the words of Chamber of Mines president Rick Menell
and Mlambo-Ngcuka that mining should be considered a sunrise industry.
It would be easy to conclude that mining was dying and withering away.
But if that approach was followed "we have ourselves condemned the
industry", Mbeki said.
A more cynical view expressed was that the meeting was "organised by
government, for government", and was merely an attempt to grandstand
and show government's commitment to holding sector summits as
agreed to at the presidential job summit in 1998.
An industry source said that, whatever the motivation, government had
made encouraging noises about the industry.
To some, this was more than government had done previously. Since
1994, employers and labour have become increasingly concerned that
government had little interest in the survival of mining.
There were high expectations that after 1994 government would focus on
the industry. However, there was no attempt by the new government to
facilitate the transformation of mining or to develop a vision for its future.
To add insult to injury, it appointed a minister who apparently showed little
interest in the industry.
Not all the blame could fall on government's shoulders. Employers were
also recalcitrant in transforming and modernising labour practices and
failed to embark on an imaginative marketing of gold internationally as
compared to the platinum and diamond industries.
Despite numerous attempts by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM),
the industry and government agreed to a mining summit meeting only in
1998. The union's first unsuccessful attempt to develop a national
strategy to co-ordinate the industry's downscaling took place in 1991 after
more than 100000 jobs had been lost.
A decided shift occurred from the side of employers and government
during a union-initiated 1998 mining summit meeting. Employers and the
union would now agree that it laid the groundwork for the development of
more co-ordinated strategies.
For the first time labour, government and business have agreed to a
common strategy or framework for the industry.
A three-pronged strategy aimed at retaining and creating mining jobs
focuses on promotion and beneficiation; rural economic development and
employment and human resource development.
These strategies were agreed to on the basis that there was no likelihood
of the industry becoming a major creator of jobs. However, this did not
mean that mining was unable to create jobs as it could act as a catalyst
for growth and employment in other sectors.
An industry source said the success of last week's meeting should not
only be measured by annual mining games or trips to west Africa. The
process which follows is even more important.
As a department for minerals and energy representative said: "There is a
long, hard road down from the summit."
PHIL |
