JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African mining industry, which is producing at a level 10% lower than seven years ago, has no future without improved productivity, Chamber of Mines of South Africa president Mark Cutifani said on Tuesday.

“We have to work and talk together to create a future,” said Cutifani, who is also CEO of Anglo American, South Africa’s biggest mining company.

In a video interview with Mining Weekly Online on the sidelines of South Africa’s second annual Mining Lekgotla, Cutifani said the industry could not continue to pay higher wages without these being supported by greater output.

The lekgotla is a platform for all key stakeholders to map the future of the mining sector, with growth, transformation and global competitiveness this year’s theme.

On futurist Peter Schwartz’s warning to the lekgotla that the South African mining industry had no future if it failed to innovate, Cutifani said all relevant industry stakeholders should be involved in moves to innovate and automate.

“The key thing is to work with employees and understand where we can make significant technology improvements to improve productivity,” said Cutifani, who emphasised the importance of each individual employee – including himself – achieving greater output.

“It’s about productivity. We can’t continue to pay higher wages unless it’s backed by higher productivity.

“There is no future without productivity. That’s the word we’re missing. That’s the word that we have to go forward with as a country.

“We’ve got to talk, understand each other and lockstep going forward,” London-based Cutifani urged, adding that, to outsiders, South Africa sometimes looked like a war zone.

“I know that’s not true but that’s what it looks like from outside. We’ve got to present ourselves differently because, at the end of the day, much of the investment we need has to come from offshore and if people don’t believe we trust each other, they won’t invest. We’ve got to change that, and we’ve got to change it quick,” he added.

SAFETY TREND

South Africa’s rate of improvement in mining safety was better than any other country.

South Africa had reduced fatalities by 66% from 2003 to 2012 compared with 47% in the US and 25% in Canada.

“If you draw those numbers out over the next ten years, we will be the leader in safety. That’s where we’ve got to be. That’s where we’ve got to go.

“People should acknowledge the good work but at the very same time acknowledge that we have to do much more because where we are is still not acceptable,” he said.

South Africa’s technical challenges were still far greater than its peer countries.

“The solutions that we need to design have to be different to anyone else. In the end, we’ve got to create our own solutions. That’s the real message,” he added.