Global law firm ENSafrica – a premium sponsor, speaker and panellist at this year’s Joburg Indaba – states that it is eager to take part in this year’s panel discussion themed around legal uncertainty.

“With the Joburg Indaba [becoming] one of the pre-eminent annual fixtures on the mining industry’s calendar and as Africa’s largest law firm, ENSafrica is proud to have been associated with this event as well as the Breakfast Indaba for the last two years,” enthuses ENSafrica head of natural resources and environment department Lloyd Christie.

The Indaba will take place from October 3 to 4 at the Inanda Club, in Johannesburg. Christie avers that the Joburg Indaba and its accompanying Breakfast Indaba are important forums of public debate and prominent assemblies for thought leaders in the industry. He emphasises that these events have become known for frank, sober and balanced dialogue. He also stresses that stakeholders enter these forums with the implicit hope that the nature of these discussions will revive and foster trust between the public and private sector.

“It therefore comes as no surprise that the recurring theme of legal uncertainty will feature again this year,” explains Christie. He tells Mining Weekly that ENSafrica will be participating in panel discussions during both events relating to “Mining Charter III: will it impede or empower the industry?” and the “Implications of National Environmental Management Act and other Environmental Regulations for the Mining Industry”.

Christie stresses that these topics, addressed by separate panels, are more than just a call for legal certainty in South Africa. He states that they address a fundamental need for all stakeholders to re-envision the mining industry.

“As a cyclical industry, the mining industry needs to keep an eye on ‘the tomorrow’, probably more than most and, in South Africa, it needs to remain mindful of the ‘yester-sorrow’,” warns Christie.

He states that progressive mining business will exploit existing technical prowess to harness technology in a manner that will develop new skill sets which, in turn, will inspire enlightened shareholder values; encourage workplace diversity and transformation; prioritise environmental sustainability, particularly water management; promote measurable social outcomes; and foster broader, shared stakeholder value.

“The law is not the cure, but greater legal certainty does encourage bolder decisions which, in turn, is the impetus for innovation, and innovative thinking leads to a mining industry re-envisioned,” concludes Christie.