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Cape Town - Serious allegations against Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane and his officials by some mining companies are appalling and irresponsible, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) said on Tuesday.
Bloomberg reported that the CEOs of AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American Platinum have alleged section 54 is invoked too frequently, resulting in lost output. In their view, rather than shutting down an entire mine, only the area where an accident had occurred should be closed and inspected.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the DMR referred to what it called allegations by certain companies that officials are using sections of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) for their own purposes. It relates especially to section 54 of the MHSA, which provides for work stoppages in the mining industry if an inspector has reason to believe that any occurrence, practice or condition at a mine endangers or may endanger the health or safety of any person at the mine.
Questions have been raised about the competency and efficiency of the implementation of these kinds of work stoppages, which contribute to production loss in the industry. The DMR pointed out that the MHSA provides recourse for parties who believe they have been issued with such a work stoppage notice without grounds and want to challenge it.
The DMR is concerned about the potential of these allegations to "tarnish the integrity of Government and undermine the legislative instruments". It regards the allegations by some companies as "appalling behaviour by some responsible corporate citizenry of SA’s mining industry to be seemingly filing such appeals in the courts of public opinion".
The DMR emphasised that mining plays a pivotal role in SA’s socio-economic development objectives, but that government has to balance competing interests of capital and labour, while improving the lives of all South Africans.
"The vision of the DMR is to enable a globally competitive, sustainable and meaningfully transformed minerals and mining sector to ensure that all South Africans derive sustainable benefit from the country’s mineral wealth," the DMR said in a statement.
"As a result, the minister has directed DMR officials to aggressively pursue all available measures to drive growth towards to an even more enabling environment, in the interests of strengthening the economy."
President Jacob Zuma appointed Zwane in the place of Ngoako Ramatlhodi last year. From the start Zwane has indicated that the primary aim of the DMR is to ensure the health and safety of all workers. Zwane has emphasised in the past that the DMR does not invoke Section 54 "willy-nilly".
READ: Zwane: Govt doesn't shut mines willy-nilly
"The minister and his officials are not oblivious to the stark realities and the various challenges being faced by the mining industry as compounded by the global economic realities. However, health and safety in the mining sector under the democratic government is non-negotiable," said the DMR.
"It is the role of Government to govern and to legislate in a decisive manner. It is the role of business to run its business, to adhere to the rules and regulations and to allow the policies to be implemented."
Zwane has reaffirmed the importance of safety audits to determine the levels of compliance, on the basis of which corresponding corrective actions will be instituted. He acknowledged the concerted efforts of many in organised labour and business in SA’s mining industry working towards zero harm in mining.
According to Bloomberg, as of August 18 there were 57 fatalities in SA mines this year, compared with 46 in the same period last year, according to Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland. In 2015, 77 miners died at work, compared to an annual average of 800 in the two decades to 1994, the DMR said in January.
AngloGold, the world’s third-biggest miner of the metal, had three fatalities and 77 safety stoppages in the first half of the year, losing 44 000 ounces of production. Amplats lost about 30 000 ounces of platinum group metals.
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