The Joburg Indaba provides a vital platform for “frank and necessary” conversations about the future of South Africa’s mining industry, says Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane.

The council’s key expectation for this year’s Indaba is that it will provide a gauge to measure the progress and urgency in addressing the fundamental operational and regulatory constraints that have historically prevented investment in the mining sector and hindered growth.

Mthenjane says the need for the mining industry to attract investment is critical, given its significant role as a catalyst for the broader economy and downstream industries.

While he anticipates that the major themes dominating discussions will be familiar, focusing on the basic requirements for economic growth, he adds that South Africa does not need to “reinvent the wheel”, but should instead execute the fundamentals with greater urgency.

“The theme should be: are we making progress and is there urgency in that progress on the basic things that we need to do,” suggests Mthenjane.

Fixing critical infrastructure, establishing a stable policy environment, ensuring good governance and deliberately making the country a safe and secure host for capital are the non-negotiable pillars for recovery, investment and growth.

Mthenjane adds that logistics and electricity infrastructure and costs will remain central topics, as these dynamics continue to be severe constraints on operational efficiency and expansion.

He highlights the progress made through partnerships between business and government, particularly through the National Energy Crisis Committee and similar initiatives focused on State logistics company Transnet.

He acknowledges that, in the provision of services for the mining sector, there has been “good engagement” with State entities Eskom and Transnet, resulting in important policy and structural reforms that allow for greater private-sector participation which is important to inject capital and management skills into energy and logistics.

However, Mthenjane says these should have materialised “a lot quicker”.

As for government efficiency, especially within the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and its coordination with other departments on licensing, measures need to be taken to improve efficiencies and collaboration to “dramatically expedite approvals and reduce investment delays”, he notes.

Energy Security

The intertwined issues of energy security and the increasing cost of electricity are expected to feature strongly in Joburg Indaba discussions, says Mthenjane, who predicts that key questions will focus on progress in fixing Eskom, the expansion of renewable-energy generation and the critical need to build new power transmission lines. In this vein, he points out that the price of electricity for big industrial users such as mines has increased by nearly 900% in the past two decades.

“This cost pressure threatens the viability of key sectors and creates tension among different electricity users.”

He adds that businesses need predictable policies to feel confident in making long-term investments, as policy certainty and predictability “are every South African’s top priority”.

“The amount of capital that is going to be required for investment in South Africa is of a significant scale and over an extended period . . . but without policy certainty, capital will not put a toe on the shores of the country.”

Mthenjane stresses that investors have a responsibility to protect their capital, which often represents the pensions of ordinary citizens, and will not risk it in an environment of uncertainty.