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Experience from other health crises shaped mining industry’s rapid pandemic response

TESTING TIMES 
Coal miners Seriti and Exxaro collaborated on increased testing capacity within their areas of operation
SOCIALLY DISTANCED 
The standard operating procedures highlighted the importance of social distancing and hygiene

Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter discusses the industry's Covid-19 response.

TESTING TIMES Coal miners Seriti and Exxaro collaborated on increased testing capacity within their areas of operation

SOCIALLY DISTANCED The standard operating procedures highlighted the importance of social distancing and hygiene

23rd October 2020

By: Nadine James

Features Deputy Editor

     

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While virologists and risk analysts have been theorising about the effects of a global pandemic for years, few could have imagined the Covid-19 pandemic’s transformative impact on society. Even after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a public health emergency in January, “how many people, globally, would’ve thought that the Covid-19 would have such a profound impact on the global economy, and the global population?” posits Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter.

He notes that, fortunately, the local mining industry’s collaboration on other health crises, such as the HIV/Aids epidemic and the country’s persistent challenges with tuberculosis, meant that it was perhaps one of the few industries able to adequately respond and mitigate the spread of the disease. This is evidenced by the fact that the local industry has a mortality rate of 0.1%, or roughly half that of the country, as well as a test rate of 11.83%, which outstrips South Africa’s (7.41%) and the world’s (9.04%) test rate.

Aside from its prior experience with health crises, the effectiveness of the industry’s response is owed to its willingness to collaborate and to its proactivity. As Minerals Council spokesperson Charmane Russel explains: “We really got out of the starting blocks early, in terms of communicating with members and other entities. In fact, before the Investing in African Mining Indaba in February, the industry had recognised the virus as a potential threat. That’s when we started producing material for member companies to educate employees on what Covid-19 was and how to prevent transmission.”

Baxter notes that the Minerals Council’s publications, including the 10-point plan and the standard operating procedures (SOPs), were instrumental in establishing control measures based on risk, prevention and mitigation, and that significant portions of the SOPs were reflected in the regulations published by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

He adds that, during the height of the pandemic, the council convened fortnightly CEO Zero Harm forums, during which company CEOs would discuss their measures for addressing the Covid-19 pandemic, to share lessons and successes.

Efforts in Testing

“In February, well before the first case was diagnosed in South Africa, we recognised that the country would not have sufficient resources to adequately address the pandemic. Strong, advanced and well-resourced health systems in developed countries had struggled and so the initial focus was on increasing capacity and acquiring resources,” explains Minerals Council public affairs and transformation senior executive Tebello Chabana.

He adds: “When it was clear that this public health emergency was becoming a pandemic, it became evident that there was a global shortage of testing equipment. Further, it was clear that South Africa’s public testing capacity would become constrained, as many countries were restricting the export of equipment and consumables, and back then there were fewer manufacturers.”

He explains that, some of the member companies were “quite visionary”, looking into means of acquiring Polymerase Chain Reaction machines and other equipment such as storage fridges, biosafety cabinets and centrifuges to increase testing capacity and analyse test samples to help speed up diagnoses and curb the spread of the virus.

“Companies, individually and through the Minerals Council, agreed to shore up the country’s testing capacity, because at the end of the day, while we needed to test employees, there was also a moral obligation to assist in testing communities.

“This pandemic was novel, it was unprecedented, and so companies couldn’t put their hands up and say that government must do everything, Bear in mind that it is not an occupational disease. Employees were always more likely to contract it outside the mine, so our intervention had to include supporting the government by testing the public.”

He explains that mining companies were essentially establishing standalone laboratories or assisting in increasing capacity at various hospital or medical facilities in nearly every province. “I think the only province where capacity wasn’t improved by mining companies was the Free State.”

Key to improving capacity was collaboration, with Chabana explaining that companies partnered with each other, State institutions, provincial authorities and private laboratories.

One of the ways in which the council facilitated these partnerships was by vetting private and independently owned laboratories. “We vetted 23 independent labs, focusing on established labs that were able, or had the potential to, conduct Covid-19 testing, and circulated it to member companies.”

Chabana notes that a collaboration between non-governmental organisation Ndlovu Laboratories, Northam Platinum and Glencore Alloys looked to increase testing capacity for communities.

He cites a partnership between Seriti and Exxaro, where the two collaborated on testing within their areas of operation, including testing Eskom employees at power stations to assist in “keeping the lights on”.

Further, he cites collaborations between Gold Fields and theCouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research (on community testing), Sibanye-Stillwater, AngloGold Ashanti, Sasol and Imperial Logistics (who collaborated on large-scale distribution of hand sanitiser produced by Sasol) and Royal Bafokeng Platinum and Impala Platinum (who collaborated on the establishment and equipping of a field hospital). He also points to Anglo American’s large-scale testing programme, which was supported by several member companies.

Companies also provided daily updates in terms of testing, which Chabana explains allowed the industry to move from focusing “purely on testing, to managing the disease”. The data generated by the testing programmes was used with geographic information system mapping – funded by the Minerals Council – to, for example, ensure that areas that “spiked” had sufficient quarantine and isolation facilities.

Communication is Key

Russel explains that the Minerals Council’s Public Affairs Communications Committee – which comprises communications executives from member companies – started meeting weekly, at the start of the pandemic, to share information and good practices for communications with employees and communities.

The committee established a communications protocol, which determined how companies and the council itself would communicate during the pandemic. “We agreed that we had a duty, to employees and communities, to report the status of testing, of isolation within companies, as well as a duty to communicate with other stakeholders, such as the unions, the DMRE and the Department of Health.”

Russel adds that the industry decided to be “incredibly open and transparent” with the council hosting media briefings on a near weekly basis to provide updates. Moreover, the Daily Dashboard, which displays data on testing and the number of positive cases, among others, was set up when the first mining case was reported in March.

“A big part of what we were doing monitoring communication, was making sure that as far as possible, people came to us, bearing in mind that misinformation was typical at the time. The way we countered this misinformation was to make sure that members and employees had the facts. The dashboard was sent to every single CEO and the DMRE every day. We also tried to ensure that accurate information was disseminated to as many entities as possible.”

In terms of publications, in addition to the SOPs and media releases, the council also produced documents on how best to protect vulnerable employees and how to address stigma, which was identified very early on as a potential risk.

Meanwhile, “the funds reallocated for research projects assisted in the development of Behaviours Field Guides, which communicated best practices in terms of mechanisms to mitigate the spread of the virus.”

Russel also notes that, based on the sheer number of downloads, other companies and institutions adapted the SOP for their sectors. “We know that the documents that we created – which are available on the Covid-19 portal that has been up since March – were downloaded over 30 000 times. The educational posters, which have been translated into four different languages, have also been very popular.”

She lauds the way in which companies shared information, citing Gold Fields’ and Exxaro’s willingness to allow other companies to use and rebrand guides and pamphlets, free of charge.

“The Minerals Council plays a strong leadership role. Covid-19 is a health issue, and the industry has a long and entrenched history of collaborating on health and safety. We say, ‘there’s no competition in safety and health’ and that has grounded our pandemic response.”

What the Future Holds

Minerals Council health head Dr Thuthula Balfour notes that at the peak of the pandemic, companies were reporting up to 200 new cases a day, and at least one fatality, but adds that the industry has progressed passed that. However she stresses that the council remains alert to the possibility of a second wave, and avers that the pandemic has not ended.

In terms of the economic recovery, Baxter reiterates the council’s support of Business for South Africa’s (B4SA’s) plan for ‘A New Inclusive Economic Future for South Africa. Delivering an Accelerated Economic Recovery Strategy’.

He notes that the country has essentially experienced a “lost decade”, typified by underinvestment and poor growth. He cites the country’s averaging about 1.5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the decade since 2009, compared to other emerging economies averaging about 4% growth.

As for 2020, he expects that GDP will shrink by at least 8.8%, the fiscal deficit will grow by about 15%, three-million jobs will be lost, and the country might experience a “full blown sovereign debt crisis.”

He stresses that it is important to note that the country was in trouble before the pandemic hit, but that it has pushed South Africa closer to the precipice. However, he also notes that it is possible to boost confidence by putting in place means to implement critical structural reforms.

From a mining industry perspective that entails: a greater deal of engagement with and between the DMRE and other stakeholders; establishing an exploration strategy that encourages investment; stabilising electricity supply; reducing regulatory uncertainty and improving licensing approval turnaround times; dealing with criminal activity in the sector and unlocking logistical bottlenecks.

There has been movement in many respects with the council involved in preliminary discussions on establishing a mining-focused taskforce within the South African Police Service, concessions by the DMRE in terms of mines’ ‘self-generating’ power to improve security of supply, the council’s ongoing engagement with the DMRE on the recognition of continuing consequences of previous black economic empowerment transactions, as well as the impending publication of a national exploration strategy.

Baxter says the only way that the future envisioned in the B4SA plan can be realised is through public-private engagement, and that the pandemic response proves that it is possible for the various segments of society to come together in service of a larger goal.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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