While Gauteng is principally a postmining economy, the industry still plays an important part in the province’s overall economic make-up and can in no way be viewed as a sunset sector, says Gauteng Premier David Makhura.

Speaking at an event in Johannesburg earlier this month, he noted that there were about 33 000 people employed in the mining industry in Gauteng and that it contributed more than R40-billion a year to the provincial economy. Makhura added that there were mines located in Gauteng that could continue to operate for the next 30 years.

“Government expects that these Gauteng-based mines will continue to play an important role in the province’s economy, despite the fact that Gauteng’s economy is predominantly driven by the manufacturing and services sectors.

It is for this reason that we have made upstream and downstream linkages, thereby identifying beneficiation, in particular, as an important element in advancing an economic stimulus in the province,” Makhura stated.

He further pointed out that Africa has a large number of mineral resources; however, these resources were traditionally mined and exported in raw form. Additional value was created out of these minerals elsewhere in the world and the finished products were in many instances sold back to the continent as high-value items.

Makhura explained that it was for these reasons that Gauteng wanted to be South Africa’s central point for the undertaking of mineral beneficiation. He noted that projects such as the R267-million Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct, which was currently under development, adjacent to OR Tambo International Airport, would provide facilities for mineral beneficiation, diamond cutting, polishing and trading, as well as light manufacturing for jewellery and other high-end products.

“These sorts of beneficiation projects will undoubtedly create many jobs and strengthen reindustrialisation efforts in Gauteng and the rest of South Africa. “Government and industry must work together in a constructive fashion to ensure the beneficiation drive is effectively achieved,” Makhura concluded.