Photo by: Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
During his address at last month’s Minerals Council South Africa annual general meeting, re-elected Minerals Council president Mxolisi Mgojo praised the commitment of mining companies to solving safety,transformation and inclusive growth problems. He pointed out, however, that policy uncertainty and a 523% increase in the electricity price had curtailed competitiveness materially, with mining companies still having to face the renewal and transfer consequences of previous empowerment transactions. He raised the issue of the unworkability of the financial provisioning regulations of the Department of Environmental Affairs, pointed to carbon tax implementation uncertainties and spoke of a living and housing standard that effectively foisted the responsibilities of the State on mining companies.