The role of mining in the region of Enkangala has come under the spotlight during the meeting of the Select Committees on Economic Business Development and Trade and International Relations with the Enkangala District Municipality.
Members voiced dissatisfaction with the role of mining companies and said the municipality needed to take a council resolution that forces mining houses to contribute meaningfully to the development of the area.
Committee member, Mr Boingotlo Nthebe, said what is happening with the mining in Mpumalanga was a reflection of what was happening nationally.
“This resistance by mining houses to comply with social labour plans is happening nationally. We should move away from appreciating mining houses donating chairs to creches when they are making billions. This is not the kind of intervention we want to see,” Mr Nthebe said.
“We should be able to extract maximum benefits from mining activity and actually dictate to mining houses the conditions they ought to meet in upskilling our people, and how they must contribute to the economy,” he said.
He said young graduates were not being absorbed by the economy and yet the mining industry sat on billions of rands.
The Committee Co-Chairperson, Mr Eddie Makue, concurred and said the mining sector’s role was worrying.
“We need to understand the mining sector’s role. People are suffering as a result of mining, what is being done to address the impact of mining on agriculture – and we assume it is negative. This might be an opportunity to advise us on what it is we can do so that we could govern in a responsible manner,” Mr Makue said.
Members sought clarity on how manufacturing and mining contributed to job creation and whether communities are properly engaged in economic development and empowerment programmes.
A workshop to be conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) was suggested on how the Moloto Rail Development Corridor could be made a special economic zone, especially in view of the proposed Nkangala Airport.
Committee member, Mr George Mthimunye, said there would be many economic spin-offs that could be attached to the airport development and that could unlock economic opportunities for locals.
“Benefits are huge there and will help us address the issue of radical economic transformation. This will even help in the Black Industrialist Programme run by dti.
He committed to facilitating the workshop with dti, and said: “Let’s begin to radically change the economy of the region, and we have the law on our side to unlock the economic potential of the region.”
During the week the Committees will visit massive infrastructural projects in the province including the Moloto Rail Development Corridor, Kusile Power Plant, Ekandustria Industrial Park, and the Evraz Highveld Steel.
By Sibongile Maputi
28 March 2007
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