Moving Beyond The Mining Charter

There has been great progress within the mining sector regarding regulation and policy. But visionary thinking required to truly take the industry into the future.

- David McKay

Advances in SA’s mining regulatory and policy environment have been widely acknowledged. This was especially the case at this year’s Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town – as demonstrated by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s attendance of the event.

His speech to the conference delivered a message of catharsis and redemption. For instance, the “Original Sin” of colonialism – the historical theft of land – would be addressed in equal measure with prosecution of those involved in state capture.

He then took questions.

Interestingly, one was posed by none other than Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani. It’s not often that conversations between leading business people and high-ranking politicians are given a public airing, even if this encounter was somewhat “stagey” in feel. Nevertheless, Cutifani asked Ramaphosa if “a shared vision” between labour, government and business regarding “various commodities” in specific provinces could be achieved.

In fact, the exact question ran: