SOUTH African mines and energy minister Gwede Mantashe told the mining industry it was to blame for its falling stock with international investors because it was failing to promote the country as well as its international peers.
“The Fraser Institute is not rating the department [of Mineral Resources and Energy]; it is rating the sector,” said Mantashe at the Minerals Council annual general meeting on Wednesday. “We (the DMRE) don’t take responsibility and we absorb the pain for that.”
The reference is to a perception-based survey compiled by Canada’s Fraser Institute which asks respondents to rank mining districts in terms of the relevant government policies. South Africa’s mining sector once again languished in the lower reaches of a list ranking overall attractiveness to investment.
Mantashe said South African mining CEOs were lacklustre: “In Canada I discover that CEOs promote the sector but we don’t have that view in South Africa. We are half-hearted about it. It is the sector that makes itself.”
One much needed requirement of the mining sector is a new mining cadastre. The current SAMRAD system developed by the government is not fit for purpose. Its replacement, however, is about two years overdue.
Mantashe said a short list of five technology suppliers had been identified for procuring a new cadastre. When it finally relented to industry pressure to buy an “off the shelf’ cadastre (rather than build its own), the DMRE said the procurement process would be completed by the end of May.
In the meantime, the backlog in mining and prospecting right applications had “ballooned”. This was owing to difficulties in the Mpumalanga region, said Roger Baxter, outgoing CEO of the Minerals Council. The backlog was back at more than 5,000 applications after having been reduced to around 2,700 last year.
Mantashe didn’t detail a known date for the new cadastre.
There had also been no progress in establishing a new, crack specialised police force to tackle the scourge of organised crime in the mining sector. The mines minister said in September last year that the South African Police Services (SAPS) would establish the police unit.
Baxter said the council was “disappointed” there had been no visible progress but that it had “recognised the Government has a process to go through”.
The mining sector continued to have talks with the SAPS while it was investing heavily in bolstering security. Some R20m a month was being spent by the mining sector securing the Northern rail corridor, he said.
you can’t even begin to try to make this shit up…..
how disillusioned can a person be?
Agreed. ANC always passing the buck
Spending so much unnessary money on somthing that used to work perfectly does not make sense to me. When I first arrived in South Africa in 1962 I used to catch a train from Benoni to Benrose in Johannesburg. The trains worked perfectly. Life just worked, now we have a massive problem with every thing. Why cant we just employ the correct people for the jobs and get the economy going again. I really cant see why they cant get records to see how the economy ran. but there again the pass rate at schools is so low maybe they cant read into the past.
The ANC was not in charge in 1962 Sir – and we cannot recruit the right people for the job because we are not allowed to
Up to 1994 the government applied first world standards to law and order. People arrested were convicted and got appropriate sentences Today the criminals have a Human Rights protection with attorneys that earn their fees by using Stalingrad tactics, politicians who share in the spoils of crime and even the police participating in the looting. This is all the result of a government that bought their support by appointing their cronies as part of “transformation” and BEE, without regard for the interest of the country. Ramaphosa’s management style to allow his ministers a free hand in their portfolios means that there are no coherent management control to execute the overall policies of the government. Every minister does his own thing.
Absolutely spot on.
MODERATED – Really Mantashe you and cadres should stop playing the innocent victims it’s because you know absolutely nothing about your portfolio. What have done to lure investment with your BEE? The feeding trough is too shallow for you. Stop blaming and appoint DMRs that know what the hell they are doing.
ANC doing what it does best: playing the blame game.
Does this guy never know when to stop
The Minister needs to get a minion to bone up on what the Fraser survey actually is – a survey of global exploration public listed company executives, which are mostly Canadian and Australian. Because that is who does global exploration. It will always be weighted to the perceptions of that group – because of Minister’s govt’s policies we have every few such people in SA who might have a different perception. A circular reference. Anyway perception is reality, Minister.
The mines operate like clockwork, the problem is ministry, infrastructure and crime… all aspects that fall under the governments responsibility
This is the brain spark minister that said there is enough electricity….
Because of cancer criminality and gov stupidity, big investors invest elseware where sane thinking and good governance prevails
I am screamingly mad at the anc caders incompetency to govern well
Let the CEO’s do what they do best unhindered by corrupt feeder intervention
The late Harry Oppenheimer made this comment in Parliament in the 1950’s about Verwoerd: ” when you have a man prepared to slow down his nation’s economic welfare on account of political theories, you are dealing with an impractical fanatic” . Verwoerd’s ideology was to keep black labour away from the urban centres where they worked. Obvious implications for the economy.
This is also true of Mantashe and his communist ideology. His rant is a fitting tribute to their Cold War mentors – the USSR. Even now their progeny – putin – blames the rest of the world for his problems. Just like the anc – it is always some else’s fault.
Half the time he talks nonsence,the other half we don’t understand what he is talking about.
What a cop.
Frans,
Please read my comment again. The ANC were not in power in1962. I repeat everything worked perfectly in 1962. I was comparing then and now.