“Has he left?” enquired Minister of Minerals and Petroleum, Gwede Mantashe, after not seeing Cape Town executive mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in attendance when he took the stage. “Many important speakers just speak and leave, and don’t take the time to hear any other views.” Mantashe referenced the Cape’s gateway status for colonialism in a highlight filled opening keynote delivered on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa – who spent his morning responding to US President Donlad Trump’s threats.
“Africans must share the country’s wealth in every country on the continent… this gathering is precisely about having discussions about Africa’s mineral wealth,” Mantashe continued.
The minister was particularly harsh on the idea of African poverty, using South Africa as an example where when gold mining was in decline, the industry pivoted to other minerals.
“These minerals are more than just clay, they do many other things… we looked into seven countries who define critical minerals in their own way and we developed our organic definition of critical minerals,” he explained.
“In our assessment, coal is one of the critical minerals because it is the second biggest employer, after PGM and followed by gold – and therefore, on that part of employment and export, it is a critical mineral.”
Bedrock of the economy
“Not only is South African mining going from gold mining to a whole range of industries, but it also remains the bedrock of our economy, an attractive sector for new and greater investment.”
On the subject of investors, Mantashe wants organisations to be more honest and transparent.
“Every company wants to invest to make money, so don’t tell me that you want to create jobs,” he says.
“You want to make money, and in the course of making money, you will employ people.”
Mantashe believes that if the companies are open to making money, and successful at it, that they will automatically meet social and developmental targets.
Dangerous places
The minister briefly touched on the Stilfontein saga, focussing on the cost of illegal mining on the economy and finally saying that “if you go into the dangerous places then the police minister is your minister, not me.”
He also called on the continent to capitalise on its mineral endowment and show the world that Africans are “not beggars.”
“With this threat ‘because you pass an expropriation act therefore Trump will withhold funding – let’s withhold minerals from the US,” he said.
If they don’t give us money, let’s not give them minerals
China controls the chrome price
At the heart of Mantashe’s frustration with global markets controlling African minerals is chromium.
China, the world’s largest chromium importer, is forecasted to reach a consumption of 1.7Mt to support its stainless steel industry.
“China builds its chrome industry on the back of our chromium, and they are bigger than us – that is unnatural,” Mantashe exclaimed.
“Because we export local commodities, China stockpiles local commodities, and we continue mining.”
He is adamant that the same scenario cannot be allowed to happen with critical minerals and calls for consensus on an African definition for these minerals, which would allow the continent to control its resources better.
African leadership
Mantashe put forward the work down by his department as the benchmark for Africa to build its framework for fair pricing around.
Addressing investors directly he said that exploration work is not mandatory to comply with BBBEE, but only at the point of production.
“When you’re looking for the mineral, we don’t want you to look for a JV partner,” he said.
“Do it, invest in it, discover the mineral, and then partner with us, because it is also imperative for us to take black South Africans out of poverty and involve them in colonial activity.”
