Mining Indaba: Ramaphosa focuses on fast-tracking mining sector recovery
In South Africa, an unstable electricity supply and a logistics crisis have piled pressure on the sector leading to a drop in output.
The 30th instalment of the Mining Indaba which runs over 4 days kicked off earlier on Monday, 5 February 2023. Picture: @GovernmentZA/X.
JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has focused on ways to fast-track recovery in the mining sector while addressing industry titans in Cape Town for the annual Mining Indaba.
The 30th installment of the Indaba - which runs over four days - kicked off earlier on Monday.
It comes at a time when the global industry has taken a knock due to systemic and structural challenges.
In South Africa, an unstable electricity supply and a logistics crisis have piled pressure on the sector leading to a drop in output.
Ramaphosa said work is being done to ensure the country’s mining industry is primed to become a global competitor again.
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“The first is to achieve a secure supply of electricity. Through the electricity action plan, the government has taken several critical measures to improve the performance of our existing generation fleet and to add new electricity capacity.”
Ramaphosa said he also wants to see the acceleration of economic reforms to improve the operating environment.
“We have instituted a number of reforms to enable businesses to operate optimally. Since the removal of the licensing threshold for embedded generation, the national energy regulator of South Africa has registered no less than 1,312 generation facilities with a combined capacity of over 6 300 megawatts. Around a third of this capacity supplies the mining load.”