JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Chamber of Mines (CoM) president Mark Cutifani has welcomed President Jacob Zuma’s announcement on Thursday of initiatives to support the mining industry.

Cutifani stated that the President’s decision to mobilise key members of his Cabinet, including Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant to restore stability and certainty to the mining industry was indicative of government’s commitment.

“We are confident that the intervention by these Ministers, together with [Mineral Resources] Minister Susan Shabangu, as regulator of the mining sector, will help to build the confidence of foreign investors in South Africa as an investment destination and guide the ongoing labour processes,” he said in a statement.

Cutifani urged business, organised labour and government to engage constructively during the country’s current wage negotiation period, as a predictable, stable and competitive environment was required to grow the local mining sector and attract investment.

Shabangu also this week appealed for wage negotiations to be conducted in a responsible manner and for decisions to be taken that would retain jobs and bring stability to the mining sector.

The National Union of Mineworkers has indicated that it would seek an entry-level minimum monthly wage of R7 000 for surface workers and R8 000 for underground workers, when the gold wage negotiations get under way in June.

This equates to a 49% hike for surface workers, who currently earn an entry-level wage of R4 700 and a 60% hike on the R5 000 underground worker wage.

Association of Mining and Construction Workers Union treasurer Jimmy Gama told Mining Weekly Online that the union was currently still in consultation with its members and that it would submit its wage demands to the CoM on Wednesday.

Cutifani said that the South African mining industry was facing some of its toughest challenges in many decades, which included rapidly increasing input costs, coupled with lower commodity prices, which have seriously impacted the sector’s profitability and resulted in close to 60% of the country’s platinum mines and about half of its gold mines being classified as lossmaking, or marginal, at best.

“The chamber and its members would like to reach an early and peaceful settlement that is fair for employees, the unions and the companies and, in so doing, avoid protracted negotiations, which can only bring uncertainty and instability to the industry and impact negatively on the national economy,” he said.

Meanwhile, the chamber said it also acknowledged that the mining sector could do more to improve social and living standards, especially in communities around mining operations and areas from where labour was drawn.

“As such, the Chamber of Mines and its members are fully committed to efforts to improve the housing and living conditions of mineworkers within the framework of the Presidential Special Package, and look forward to contributing to this process as part of the multi-stakeholder task team led by the Department of Mineral Resources, under the banner of Mining Industry Growth Development and Employment Task Team,” the organisation assured.