South African History Online

Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the 104th Annual General Meeting of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa

8 November 1994

President of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa,
Members of the
Chamber,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Among the events which have taken place since our democratic elections, this
104th Annual General Meeting of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa occupies a
special niche. South Africa is blessed with an exceptional geological heritage.
As such the mining industry has been the bedrock of the South African economy
for more than a century.

Today the industry operates in a radically changed environment. Democracy in
South Africa has brought new social priorities. It has brought peace with our
neighbours. It has exposed our country to the forces of the global economy which
is offering new opportunities and challenges, on a larger scale than ever
before. We are, consequently, called upon to find a dynamic vision and strategy
which will give mining as significant a role in the future as it has had in the
past.

I therefore thank you most sincerely for the honour of being present at this
meeting and for the opportunity to address you.

The achievements of the mining industry and its contribution to our economy
are truly remarkable. A crucial foreign exchange earner and a substantial
contributor to economic production, it remains a leading employer, second only
to agriculture, and a leader in the field of scientific and technological
research.

Mining generates further economic activity. For every three people employed
on a mine, one is employed in industries which serve the mining industry, either
directly or indirectly. Many of our towns, and indeed the massive concentration
of economic activity in the PWV, would not exist but for our geological
heritage. The impact of the industry is felt in more ways than one on the
sub-continent as a whole.

Scientifically and technologically the mining sector, together with the
scientific councils which serve it, Mintek, the Council for Geoscience and the
CSIR, have built an international reputation without equal.

Yet such is our past, that an industry which can boast such achievements
because of its centrality to our economy, must also feature some of the worst of
our society. It is the irony of our history that the spectacular developments
were built on a labour system that was not only unjust but also earned our
country notoriety throughout the world. The mining industry's impressive
technological achievements still confront archaic social conditions, and a
work-force built on a low-skills base and largely confined by illiteracy.

I do appreciate that efforts have been made to address these matters. They
are to be commended. But I do not think that any one would claim that more than
a start has been made in eradicating these profound problems.

Mr Chairman,

The South African mining industry is entering a new and exciting era. It has
the opportunity to deal with the new challenges in conditions that allow it to
draw on the skills, the imagination and the determination of all.

The pressures faced by mining are not unique. But internal and international
factors combine in the industry's case with particular intensity and urgency.

Firstly, increased productivity will be needed to cope with growing
competition from producers in other countries.

The start which the industry is making to the introduction of more flexible
work practices is vital. This should help develop increased career opportunities
for miners, so that the skills and innovative potential which have been held
back can be released to benefit the industry and the nation.

Secondly, promotion of exports is essential in a fiercely competitive
international market, if the outstanding record of the industry is to be
maintained and improved. The importance of beneficiation of minerals, as a
sorely-needed injection for the South African economy, is widely recognised and
great progress has been made in this regard. But it will require effort and
imagination to reach the optimum level.

Thirdly, increased investment is needed to maintain and expand our mining,
mineral processing and manufacturing capacity. The mining industry has already
signalled its intention of maintaining its role as an important contributor to
the national economy by increasing its investment base -- one-fifth of the
expected capital expenditure on major projects up to the year 2000 will be spent
by the mining industry.

Lastly, science and technology need to be exploited to the full, in pursuing
these objectives. The partnership between the mining industry and the scientific
councils needs strengthening. Our massive scientific and technological assets
are also ideally placed to contribute to transforming Southern Africa's large
regional mining resource base into a dynamic economic sector.

Mr Chairman,

These far-reaching and complex objectives are not ones which those
represented by your chamber could be expected to achieve alone.

Your agreements with the unions to initiate a Health and Safety Commission
and to launch a basic adult education training programme, as well as your
proposals to secure relief for workers on retrenchment benefits, demonstrate the
benefits for the industry which come from co-operation in a common forum. Thus
we shall be able to reverse such terrible trends as the increase last year in
the number of workers who died in the mining industry, from 552 to 578.

Such a forum representing the key stakeholders companies - could
make a critical contribution to the shaping of an effective industrial policy; a
policy which will help develop and expand the mining industry to the benefit of
the country as a whole. It is in the interests of stability and investor
confidence that the healthy and necessary debate on such a policy should soon
find its way to consensus.

A partnership of this kind within the mining industry would be an aspect of
the larger partnership of all social structures which is essential to the
success of the Reconstruction and Development Programme.

The mining industry, by virtue of the place it occupies in our economy, is in
a position to make a special contribution to the transformation of our society,
which should have as its central objective, improving the quality of life of all
its citizens.

I wish to assure you that the government will play its part. The government,
and particularly the ministry, will work to ensure the creation of an
environment for growth and sustainable developent of the industry. We are also
committed to developing a national strategy for coping with the social
consequences of the inevitable closure of mines which loose their financial
viability.

More broadly, the government has made clear its commitment to fiscal
discipline and to creating an environment in which business can thrive. Its
determination to carry these measures through will be evident in the recently
announced measures to restructure government finances. We hope that the mining
industry would also send a powerful message to everyone in our society that the
resources of our nation, under whatever form of ownership, will be stewarded
with a regard for the urgent need to uplift particularly the most disadvantaged
of our society. This would be no empty gesture but an action which would have
important and beneficial consequences for the nation.

Mr Chairman,

I am confident that your industry will remain robust, energetic and as
innovative as ever. You have the capacity not only to be a reliable economic
generator for South Africa and the region as a whole, but also to contribute to
the building of a society freed from the faults and fissures which marred our
past. I wish you well in your deliberations, as you grapple with the challenges
which face you and the nation.

I thank you.