Chamber of Mines’ position on transformation

The Chamber of Mines today issued a statement in which it expressed the industry’s concern on statements suggesting that the Chamber of Mines and its members were not putting enough effort into transformation and the eradication of discrimination in the mining industry.

In his statement, The Chamber’s Acting Chief Executive, Dr Frans Barker, said that the members of the Chamber have made significant progress in the transformation of the industry in line with voluntary, statutory and negotiated commitments. On racism, Barker said this was a fight that involved all stakeholders in the mining industry. He said racism should not be tolerated. ‘We therefore welcome all initiatives aimed at eradicating this unacceptable behaviour from our industry. In this regard, members of the Chamber have in place zero tolerance policies on racism which ensure that any complaints are taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and comprehensively. We believe that although all of us need to do more, it would be more constructive to acknowledge efforts and suggesting improvements rather than pointing fingers and apportioning blame.’

Commenting on the planned protest action by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Barker expressed appreciation that the NUM decided to hold its march on a Saturday, and thus avoided unnecessary work disruptions. ‘This protest march should be followed by concrete plans and actions within the tripartite partnership to improve the position of workers and communities across a broad front. Even though the industry is doing a lot, more progress could be made if labour and government constructively engaged with the mining industry to address the various transformation and community development issues. We look forward to progress in this regard’.

For any enquiries related to this media statement please contact:

Jabu Maphalala
Deputy Communications Adviser
Chamber of Mines of South Africa