"Integration of youth mining entrepreneurs and professionals into the mainstream mining economy for sustainable development, seamless succession and value creation…."

Programme Director, Mr Vusi Mabena, Senior Executive: Chamber of Mines of South Africa
Managing Director and Country Head of Rio Tinto, Mr Mpho Mothoa,
Acting CEO of the NYDA,
Panellists,
Members of the Organising Committee,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me express our appreciation to the Organising Committee of the Mining Lekgotla for the honour of delivering this morning's key note address in the Youth Power Breakfast. I am looking forward to a powerful discussion with you.

I hope we will re-energise young people towards a constructive discussion about the need for urgent transformative tasks in the mining industry, and follow that discussion with the necessary action to ensure that mining meaningfully contributes towards the transformation of our society as a whole.

I also say this because the historical injustices committed against our people arose partly from our country's endowment with untapped mineral resources, which led to colonialism, displacement, land dispossession, a sustained migrant labour system and the continued poverty, inequality and unemployment of the majority of our people.

President Jacob Zuma announced in his first State of the Nation Address in this fifth administration, that "South Africa is a much better place to live in than it was in 1994" primarily, I add, as a result of the efforts and programmes of government.

As the nation commemorates 20 years of democracy, we look back and celebrate the achievements we have made in making South Africa a better place for all to live in.

In the four previous administrations, government has focused on the reconstruction and development of our society, with a particular focus on poor and marginalised South Africans.

A great deal of attention has been placed on eliminating poverty and delivering quality services to the millions of South Africans who were once deprived of the most basic human rights.

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, mindful of the responsibilities that ordinary young South Africans expect from the mining industry and this meeting.

This industry is crucial, if we are to realise the vision set in the Freedom Charter for "a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it". Together with the mining industry, we can collectively play a pivotal role in the championing of transformation in the country, and more importantly, in the inclusion of youth into the mainstream economy.

We recognise and applaud the significant investments made by the industry to the economy and job creation. According to the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, in 2012, the top mining producers spent a total of R7.4 billion on the training of artisans and other vital skills programmes. In the same year, over a million jobs were created in the sector.

While recognising the investments made by mining companies, we cannot ignore that it is an industry with a long history of human exploitation, moving labourers away from home, destroying families and entrenching inequality.

We cannot ignore the inefficient use of South Africa's abundant natural resources, leaving us today grappling with how to balance unlocking energy constraints with moving towards being a low-carbon economy.

This is also an industry that has been slow to transform. More than ten years after the adoption of the Mining Charter, which was developed with the mining industry, we have yet to see "a mining industry that proudly reflect the promise of a non-racial South Africa" as promised by the Freedom Charter.

Through this platform, we have to ask uncomfortable questions about the face of mining in South Africa, in particular, the ownership and control of the production and beneficiation process of mining. We must ask five important questions that you have to at the end of this Lekgotla begin to respond to and ensure that they drive actions that are taken, and these are:

• Where are the young black Mine Managers?
• Why are black mine workers still living in appalling conditions?
• Why have ownership patterns remained so rigid in the industry? Where are the young, black mine owners?
• Where are the black mining engineers, geologists, and metallurgists?
• Where are the youth who should be occupying strategic and influential senior management positions of the top JSE listed mining companies?

There are many elements in the Mining Charter whose implementation would have contributed significantly to the economic emancipation and inclusion of the youth.

The mining industry could have done more to:

• Firstly commit itself to more equity participation of black people; and to
• Establish and develop youth-owned businesses through procurement and enterprise development; and to further
• Exploring beneficiation as a tool for creating future industrialists; importantly,
• Using Employment Equity legislative requirements as a tool to developing and mentoring youth to strategic positions within mining companies; plus
• Using Human Resources Development to create the required skills for successful careers in the industry; and also
• Developing mining communities through Integrated Development Plans and social and labour plans.

It is my view, and the views shared by many in government and in society, that had we focused on the livelihoods and the living conditions under which miners lived, we could have avoided the Marikana tragedy of August 16 2012; importantly, there is a call to focus on improving housing and living conditions and avoiding the mushrooming of informal settlements in mining towns. Essentially, the mining sector has opted for cheaper and easier solutions when it came to eradicating the migrant labour system and left unattended, may plunge this country into yet another tragedy.

Yes, we cannot speak about the lost potential of our mining industry, without addressing the stubborn challenges facing the education system which have a significant impact on the industry and the broader economy.

However, our role as young people is to ensure that the mineral resources of our country are used for the collective socio-economic development of all our people, and not for a tacit "disinvestment” from our economy and the listing of the profits from the mineral resources in foreign stock exchange.

According to the 2012 South African Education Statistics, of the 511 152 learners who wrote the National Senior Certificate, only 225 874 students wrote mathematics.

Of those who wrote, only 35.7 % achieved a mark of 40% and above. A meagre 179 201 matriculants wrote Physical Sciences, and yet only 39.1% achieved a mark of 40% and above.

Mathematics and Physical Science are crucial for the creation of a class of young scientists, mining managers, geologists, accountants, and other industry professionals that our mining industry so desperately requires.

In order for South Africa to increase productivity in the mining sector and its export capacity, it requires an inflow of skilled young people. Youth represent an abundance of available energy and innovation for South Africa, but without quality education, we waste the potential of thousands if not millions of young people.

The talent that lies in our human resource cannot be realised until such time we invest into it, harness it, and direct its energy towards our precious metals.

There are number of interventions identified in the National Development Plan, aimed at raising the quality of education outcomes in the long run. These initiatives range from ensuring that every South African child can have access to quality Early Childhood Development programmes, to increasing the production of quality teachers, refining the appointment process for principals, creating capacity in school districts and expanding access to water, sanitation and electricity in schools.

However more can be done by mining companies, the Department of Mineral Resources and the Mining Quality Authority Seta and others to ensure that more young people are incorporated into the industry today. Over and above all the other professions I listed earlier, we ask ourselves, where are artisans trained by the mining industry together with higher education so that we see a drastic change in the face of skills in the mining sector?

In order to realise the goals we have set for our country, we need to achieve inclusive economic growth. This requires an economy on a radically different growth path, one that is more rapid, sustainable, ensures higher investment, increased employment and a reduction of inequality.

Government has done its bit to ensure that we effect changes in the lives of miners, mining communities and our people as a whole.

During his SONA address, President Zuma announced that this fifth administration would focus on the implementation of the Landmark Framework Agreement for a sustainable Mining Industry, which was agreed to last year by labour, business and government, under the leadership of the former Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

The establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Revitalisation of distressed Mining Communities, under the leadership and guidance of the Minister Jeff Radebe reiterates the governments' commitment to improving the lives of those involved in the sector, both directly and indirectly.

Last week Minister Radebe, also released the Medium Term Strategic Framework. This is government's five year strategic plan for the current electoral term. The MTSF highlighted the need for a range of transformative initiatives that will deliver inclusive economic growth.

The MTSF also recognised the urgent need to expand the range of opportunities available to the youth.

In the weeks coming weeks, Minister Radebe will be calling for contributions from youth formations and young people in general for their contribution in the review of government's National Youth Policy 2009-2014.

This will be an exciting project which will require young people to reflect on their current challenges and develop a policy action plan for the next five years. This will include redefining youth development to take advantage of a new Mining Charter regime that will be more resolute, more focused and yet more radical.

We have to use access to political power and authority to facilitate the use of our country's resources to ensure that we empower our people to change their lives. There is no other way that we will know of freedom if we are personally not politically, economically and socially free.

But this Mining Lekgotla must also be about opportunities for young people for they represent more than 70% of unemployed people in South Africa.

This means that there is an urgent need to focus on increasing educational opportunities at FET colleges through the efforts of Mining Quality Authority seta though practical and outcomes-oriented goals.

The relationship between Mining Quality Authority Seta, the Department of Mineral Resources, FET colleges and tertiary Institution must be encouraged to support Human Resource Development, a key element of the Mining Charter.

The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) must encourage mining companies to invest in the local FET colleges training centre to raised their standards to a level that is recognised by the industry and that will ensure that the local colleges produce qualified artisans. This should be included in company Social Labour Plans. This is the only way that we can build real youth enterprise into mining.

The National Development Plan expects that the biggest contributor to new jobs will be Small and Medium sized business. This sector can also play a key role in reducing concentration in the economy and breaking the stranglehold of monopolies. Entering the mining industry remains a challenge for young people, as requirements such as proof of financial ability when acquiring mineral rights, and the timeframe that the right takes before it can be granted, impede their progress.

All players in the sector have to ask pertinent questions about the possible streamlining of processes and requirements, and the granting of exceptions and exemption to young black people regarding their financial provision assessment, allowing them to pay the financial provision when they have started making profits, and bringing in the organisations that can assist them with financial support during application stage.

It will be advisable to provide increased access to affordable lending that supports diversification of the economy, BBBEE, and investment in smaller businesses in the productive sectors of the economy.

Again, government, through the DMR should strengthen its procurement division regarding compliance inspection in procurement, especially the Competition's Act to prevent monopoly pricing on intermediate inputs such as steel and heavy chemicals and wage goods, in order to make local manufacturing more competitive.

Speaking to some young people who are interested in mining in preparation to this talk, we learnt that young people are discouraged by the long and arduous compliance requirements of some procurement processes associated with Enterprise Development.

One of the focus areas of our engagement with Business will be improving the implementation of the amended Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act and the Employment Equity Act in order to transform the ownership, management and control of the economy.

There should be a standard procedure to find out how the black miners financed their shares in order to avoid fronting, as one of the major challenges confronted in this industry.

As we review the targets in the Mining Charter, on top of our agenda must be to ensure that young people are the priority in relation to ownership, beneficiation, procurement, employment and community development.

We will have to use both the review of the Charter and of the National Youth Policy to ensure that we come up with binding constraints to effective BEE participation through providing funding solutions through Development Funding Institutions.

I have been informed by DMR that they have identified strategic minerals and clustered them into value chains, which presents an opportunity for young miners to partner with current producers and ensure that we beneficiate these minerals.

In closing, the mining sector presents an opportunity for young entrepreneurs and professionals to actively participate and in the process assist the industry with more innovative approaches to conducting its operations.

Investment in skills, technology and institutional capacity is critical to support the development of a more sustainable society and the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Ladies and gentlemen, while we acknowledge that the main story of young South Africans is that of untapped potential, we must admit that those of us in this room today are privileged. The creation of instruments such as the Mining Charter and the Minerals and Petroleum Act, present an opportunity for young people to get involved in the sector.

Use these, along with your influence and energy to not only effect change in your specific areas, but to also reengineer the industry so that it may also benefit the youth of every community.

In the next and coming years of the Mining Lekgotla, I hope to address a room full of young people who occupy senior management positions in the mining industry, including more ownership and control of mining.

We can only do so if this Lekgotla is more pronounced in encouraging continuous improvement of skills through human resources development; the creation of more decent and quality jobs for young South Africans; and more resoluteness in contributing towards the establishment of new small and medium enterprises.

We are walking on the thread of either complete destruction of our society and the communities that are endowed with minerals, or represent a new era that will sew the blanket that will carry this generation into the future.

We will build collective generational wealth now, or we will forever be damned by history as a generation that failed to seize the moment when we had the opportunity to do so.

I thank you.