The South African Minister of Mineral Resources, Mrs Susan Shabangu, has stated that Africa is determined to accelerate socio-economic development to eradicate poverty and inequality among people on the continent.
In that respect, she explained that African Union heads of state adopt the African Mining Vision as a framework for integrated development of mining in the continent.
“Africa’s time, indeed, has arrived. We shall seize our future with both hands, and not fail,” Mrs Shabangu said at the opening of the 20th Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.
She called on African governments to work together to weather the storm of current short term domestic and international circumstances to move the continent forward.
South African story
Mrs Shabangu said the country had come a long way in the evolution of the post-apartheid mining regulatory reform, which started when the ruling party first developed the “Ready to Govern” document in 1992, which culminated in the country’s White Paper on minerals and mining policy.
She explained that the post-apartheid regulatory framework had unleashed the strong potential for the mining industry of the future, transformed ownership patterns, diversified mining, created employment as well as ended the century old male domination of the industry.
Health and safety of mine workers
Mrs Shabangu, who is also a Member of Parliament, noted that the health and safety of mineworkers was a hallmark of human dignity which explained why there had been significant improvement in the health and safety of mineworkers in South Africa.
“Meanwhile, the Mine Health and Safety Act is being amended to strengthen provisions that further encourage best practice relating to the impact that mining activities have on the health and safety of mineworkers and affected communities,” she said.
A minute of silence was observed in memory of Nelson Mandela, who died on November 5, 2013 at the age of 95.
Mrs Shabangu credited the late former president with the establishment of a social order which guaranteed the freedom of the individual based on the rule of law, social justice and respect for fundamental human rights.
The annual conference, which is the biggest mining event in the world, assembled an approximately 8,000 global professionals representing 2,100 international companies from 110 countries.
According to the Managing Director of Mining Indaba LLC, Mr. Jonathan Moore, the conference had been at the forefront of advancing and channelling foreign investment into African mining, and that Indaba had been doing that for the past 20 years with its partners.
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