SOUTH African mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, said the country’s mining and tourism industry ought to live side by side especially as mining was an important tool for national development which was crucial to tourism.
“Those talking about mining coming in the way of tourism should realise that you cannot have tourism if there is no access (to an area),” said Mantashe in an article published by Fin24, an online publication. “If an area needs to be developed, that development should include mining,” he said.
He said mining is an economic sector, so a sustainable balance must be found in transforming the industry.
“At some point we must publish at least a list of black mine owners each year and see if the number is increasing. Mining companies must begin to appreciate the importance of pooling resources to become major companies. That debate is going on in the industry.”
In the same article, Mantashe also said that the mining sector employees ought to embrace the introduction of new technology rather than feel threatened by it.
“That is reckless management rather than saying we will use this kind of technology as an opportunity to re-skill and re-train workers so that they can use these technologies. If you use technology as a threat, you will cause a lot of anxiety to workers,” he said.
