JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Organised labour is more willing to fix mining than at any time in the past, former AngloGold Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell contended on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Godsell urged a coalition of the willing to create an unresistable force with labour to shame the government into coming to the table to make the necessary changes in mining.

“AMCU, NUM, UASA and Solidarity are more willing to fix the industry than at any time in the past,” Godsell said of the Association of Mining and Construction Union (AMCU), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the United Association of South Africa (UASA) and the Solidarity labour unions.

Expanding on the earlier declaration of AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Sipho Pityana that the “country’s in crisis”, Godsell said he could do no more than “commend every word of Sipho’s and ask ‘how do we forge a legitimate response?’”

He thanked God that the previous South African government had realised that its time was up.

“We have been here before. It’s an incredibly difficult time to be a patriot. We should say what is the right way to save our democracy and to find a government that will honour our Constitution.”

He urged all present to heed mining’s new “excellent” roadmap as outlined earlier by Chamber of Mines VP and Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman.

Froneman urged at a pre-conference gala dinner attended by Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online that mining’s injustices of the past be acknowledged, forgiveness be sought and the industry’s legacy of mistrust unwound through faith and leadership.

He also pleaded for the realisation of mineral riches not to be hampered by a lack of trust between government and business but instead to be stimulated by leaders tackling the factors inhibiting the growth of the mining economy in South Africa and Africa.

While acknowledging past migrant labour evils, attention was drawn to today’s living-out-allowance failures and change to migrant labour practices malfunctioning.

“We put union people on the committees and we have a pattern of corruption for which management is responsible,” Godsell charged, urging the building of viable strategies.

“We all want a social compact. I think better in the plural - social compacts. It’s a process. We need to fix our industry,” Godsell commented in urging his coalition of the willing.

“Let’s deal with the issues of migrant labour. Let’s just get ahead and do it and shame our government to come to the table. With labour we will create an unresistable force to bring about the required change,”Godsell said.

Brian Gilbertson and Mark Bristow were also part of the panel discussion, chaired by PwC Africa CEO Hein Boegman, in which Godsell took part.