THE government, and labour costs, are among several things causing the mining industry to struggle.
This is according to Chamber of Mines chief executive Bheki Sibiya, who said labour costs were escalating to higher levels while productivity was not improving.
"If the salary is growing at 10%, productivity should also grow at 10%."
In an interview with Sowetan Sibiya, who is unhappy that President Jacob Zuma has returned the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act to parliament for further consultation, warned that the mining industry was a long-term industry and needed to operate in an environment that did not change too much.
"The more it changes, the more it upsets the original plans of the mine and profit.
"We are disappointed that the bill has not been signed into law. We believe this will not be efficient and is not in the best interests of the country."
He argued that investors, especially international investors, were going to be jittery.
"They are going to be looking at this and saying how many times do South Africans want to debate the same thing."
He said it was in 2010 when the Department of Minerals announced that the bill would be amended, and when it became a proposed bill, the chamber thought the president would sign it, excluding clause 26, that deals with gas and oil.
The Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act Amendment Bill was passed by parliament in February as part of a raft of draft laws that were rushed through the legislature ahead of the May 7 elections.
Zuma gave several reasons why he did not sign the bill. He said the bill should have been referred to the National House of Traditional Leaders for its comments in terms of Section 18 of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, in that the bill has an impact on customary law or the customs of traditional communities.
He also said the definition of the act was likelyto be unconstitutional in that the amended definition elevates the codes of good practice for the South African Minerals Industry, the Housing and Living Condition Standards for the Minerals Industry and the Amended Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry to the status of national legislation.
In addition, in terms of section 74 of the amended act, he said the minister was given the power to amend or repeal these instruments as and when the need arose, effectively bypassing the constitutionally mandated procedures for the amendment of legislation.
With all this, Sibiya said, the industry was faced with high-cost commodity extraction and electricity with a high price but decreasing reliability.
"The mining industry is one of the intense users of electricity. You do not stop and start the mine when you operate it; the longer the run you have the better.
"If load shedding is to continue for the next 10 years it will kill the mining industry. The poor performance of Eskom is bad for the mining industry," he said.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
SA mining industry gets into deeper crisis
THE government, and labour costs, are among several things causing the mining industry to struggle.
This is according to Chamber of Mines chief executive Bheki Sibiya, who said labour costs were escalating to higher levels while productivity was not improving.
"If the salary is growing at 10%, productivity should also grow at 10%."
In an interview with Sowetan Sibiya, who is unhappy that President Jacob Zuma has returned the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act to parliament for further consultation, warned that the mining industry was a long-term industry and needed to operate in an environment that did not change too much.
"The more it changes, the more it upsets the original plans of the mine and profit.
"We are disappointed that the bill has not been signed into law. We believe this will not be efficient and is not in the best interests of the country."
He argued that investors, especially international investors, were going to be jittery.
"They are going to be looking at this and saying how many times do South Africans want to debate the same thing."
He said it was in 2010 when the Department of Minerals announced that the bill would be amended, and when it became a proposed bill, the chamber thought the president would sign it, excluding clause 26, that deals with gas and oil.
The Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act Amendment Bill was passed by parliament in February as part of a raft of draft laws that were rushed through the legislature ahead of the May 7 elections.
Zuma gave several reasons why he did not sign the bill. He said the bill should have been referred to the National House of Traditional Leaders for its comments in terms of Section 18 of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, in that the bill has an impact on customary law or the customs of traditional communities.
He also said the definition of the act was likelyto be unconstitutional in that the amended definition elevates the codes of good practice for the South African Minerals Industry, the Housing and Living Condition Standards for the Minerals Industry and the Amended Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry to the status of national legislation.
In addition, in terms of section 74 of the amended act, he said the minister was given the power to amend or repeal these instruments as and when the need arose, effectively bypassing the constitutionally mandated procedures for the amendment of legislation.
With all this, Sibiya said, the industry was faced with high-cost commodity extraction and electricity with a high price but decreasing reliability.
"The mining industry is one of the intense users of electricity. You do not stop and start the mine when you operate it; the longer the run you have the better.
"If load shedding is to continue for the next 10 years it will kill the mining industry. The poor performance of Eskom is bad for the mining industry," he said.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos