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Gold mines don't need 'enforcement culture' Posted: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 [miningmx.com] -- DRDGOLD’s CEO, John Sayers, announced shortly after he took up his current position in January 2007, that our focus will be to sell down, and eventually exit our offshore portfolio, and to optimize the South African based assets. DRDGold’s journey back home, and toward reestablishing itself as a “proudly South African” gold producer, is now just about complete. I was reminded again, when watching 'Madiba' (Nelson Mandela) on Saturday evening just before the (rugby) World Cup final, that there is a lot that we South Africans can be justifiably be proud of: our nation’s patriarch is probably the most recognisable symbol of reconciliation and democratic values in the world. Our democratic system is in all likelihood one of the most enlightened and advanced in the world today. We have the benefit of true freedom of the press, a truly independent judiciary and a constitution which effectively guarantees and entrenches the basic human rights of all people. And then of course there is the little thing of also having the best rugby side in world. We got to where we are, I believe, because of firm commitment to, and relentless pursuit of some fairly strong democratic values. As we are approaching the ANC leadership elections, we are seeing many of those values highlighted again in the words and conduct of our nation’s leaders. Being true to its status as a “peoples” government, we are also seeing these principles increasingly applied within the context of the political ideologies which appeal to the disenfranchised masses. (Those who may well turn out to be the “swing-vote” in the up and coming ANC elections, I venture to suggest.) Now, amongst all the “firsts” and “bests” and “most enlightened”, there are unfortunately also some other stats that have quietly crept in. Gold production of most gold companies has reduced year on year. In fact, after the 2006 Christmas break, I believe Australia’s gold output surpassed that of South Africa. They are no longer only beating us at cricket, but they have become better than us in extracting gold, as well. Then there are the signs coming out of our agricultural sector. Trending in agriculture shows that our farmers are producing less food and employing fewer people. Stock farming is plummeting as more and more land is taken up for game farming, and crop farming is under increasing pressure. I find these trends really worrying – keep in mind that forty years of isolation, at a time that advances in technology were at it most robust, coupled with a work calendar that makes catch-up to the levels of efficiency we see in the economies in Korea, China and the rest of Asia very difficult, have effectively put us out of the race to become a net exporter of manufactured goods. We are in all likelihood always going to remain a net importer of oil-based energy and technology, funded with hard currency, a big chunk of which will be earned through the exportation of raw materials. It would seem that in this sort of environment, the things one would want to pay special attention to, are those sectors of the economy with foreign currency earning capacity (mining in particular), and, in order to ensure that ones ability to import energy and technology is not diminished, the nation’s ability to feed itself, without any reliance on food imports. Looking at the interaction on the political stage over the last few months, and the actions of state departments, acting on the instructions of their political heads, it is in these two sectors that the clash between ideology and the commercial needs of our nation appear to be at its most intense. In agriculture, the drive to address the plight of farm workers has become one of open confrontation between government and farmers. In mining, government’s measures to ensure a safer work environment seems, somewhat worryingly, premised on an assumption that management is by and large indifferent to the safety of its employees. Administrative measures, which as at last Friday, according to Business Day, had resulted in stoppages of sorts in at least fifty mines, have assumed a distinctly confrontational slant. Whilst finding a scapegoat for injuries and deaths in the mines may bring about a sense of accomplishment in the short term, and resemble a “promise kept” in the political arena, it’s unlikely to have much of a long term impact on safety performance. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
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