Mining is reawakening and even countries with an abundance of mining skills are starting to check whether their capacity is going to be adequate. South Africa should do the same.
Mining’s future is beginning to look up but there’s nothing like insufficient capacity to make it all fall down. We had a mining boom as the new millennium began, but it all fell flat because the country failed to respond in time. Accenture head of resources David Burns is already urging Australia to revise its employment strategies and we are not as skills-endowed as they are Down Under.
Since Covid, we’ve come to expect that people can do far more from home than they’ve ever done at the office, which will be a plus. But, if Covid goes on longer than expected, there will be no such thing as simply flying people in and out. With the upturn popping up over the horizon – as June results will show – government and business must put their heads down to ensure that the country is ready to take all the opportunities that arise.