MINING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION - A CHALLENGE FOR THE AFRICAN CENTURY

 -  Proposals by Organised Labour to the Mining Summit Held on 25-26TH February 2000, Pretoria

1. Section A: The Past we Inherit - the Future we Create
2. Section B: Minerals Promotion, Management and Development
3. Section C: Human Resource and Employment Issues
4. Section D: A Strategy for Rural Development
5. Section E: The Road Ahead - Implementation of the Mining Industry Job Summit Agreements

Section A: The Past we Inherit - the Future we Create

1. Introduction

   This document has been developed by trade unions which came together to discuss our contribution to the Mining Summit. Three of the unions already constitute a Mining Labour Caucus that represent the organised workers in tripartite institutions established under the Mine Health and Safety Act. Our mandate arises from existing policy positions and reflects the widest possible consensus that could be reached by the unions sponsoring this document. We have strived to articulate proposals that have the best interests of not only members, but also workers in the mining industry, their families, mining communities and labour sending communities.

2. South Africa's Employment Crisis

   The South African unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world. Between 36 and 53% of South Africans are estimated to live below the poverty line. This is partly caused by low wages, one of the legacies of apartheid. It is further exacerbated by large retrenchments facing the mining industry - one of the largest employment sectors in the economy. The South African society is still characterised by unequal relations in the economic, political and social spheres. In the mining and mineral sector these inequalities are stark. They manifest themselves at the stope, on the surface, in the boardrooms and in all other areas of work.

   A historic lack of investment in education and training of South African labour force resulted in the under utilisation of this valuable resource. In 1997 the World Competitiveness Report stated that South Africa's human development index fared the worst when compared to the 46 countries measured by the report.

   Some of the key causes of the high levels of unemployment and poverty include:

   • The development of apartheid capitalism which depended on a racially marginalised and exploited workforce to secure profits.
   • The decline and labour-shedding practices of important primary industries - agriculture and mining.
   • The systematic under-development of skills for the vast majority of the labour force.
   • The tendency to export low value-added goods using capital intensive technologies and to import high value-added goods.
   • The promotion of vast income inequalities which constrained domestic demand and the expansion of productive investments.
   • The marginal economic development of the former homelands and the townships.

   The unemployment crisis in South Africa underscores the need for a comprehensive job creation strategy integrated with industrial policies as the engines for sustainable economic growth and development. The problem of unemployment in South Africa is structural - it is characterised by the evolution of the apartheid economy over time.

   It is common knowledge that current democratic government inherited a deteriorating national economy with high inflation and unemployment. This was not only a feature of the South African economy but reflective of a global crisis. However, under apartheid rule the state, often in collaboration with capital, to the exclusion of labour, devised policies to intervene in these situations. In other countries organised labour, business and the state joined forces in developing tripartite approaches to these problems. Fiscal measures, social security benefits, increased public investment, reducing the hours of work and improvement in the provision of social security benefits were part of strategies employed to deal with recessions, downsizing and unemployment.

   In South Africa today the principle of tripartism has been legislated and accepted as an important vehicle for dealing with the labour market, economic development and growth. However, the historical distortions of the labour market and the unequal distribution of wealth poses even greater challenges for tripartite institutions in the context of a new, democratic society.

3. Labour Market Policy Developments for a Post-Apartheid South Africa

   Over the last six years we have seen the development and promulgation of a package of legislation aimed at transforming society in general and the workplace in particular. The enactment of these was not without painstaking tripartite negotiations and robust debate and public participation. Some of these important frameworks include the Labour Relations Act, the NEDLAC Act, The Skills Development Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Employment Equity Act and last but not least the Mine Health and Safety Act.

   In broad terms the stated aims of these Acts are to:

   • Promote economic growth
   • Redress past imbalances created by apartheid
   • Promote human resource development
   • Entrench the notion of a working democracy through promoting worker participation

   We are aware the legislation in itself will not achieve these stated objectives but its implementation requires the support of organised business and the management they employ as well as a workforce that knows and understands their rights and responsibilities. More important, it requires the determination of government and the capacity of the civil service to monitor the implementation. Society should judge its immediate and long-term impact.

4. A Conceptual Framework for a Labour Driven Proposal

   Overall, the aim of the Summit must be to seriously address the question of poverty elimination, and connected to this, inequality and unemployment.

   Our core concerns are to: -

   • Create jobs both in the short and long term
   • Improve the quality of existing employment
   • Promote job security and stem job losses in the economy in general and within the mining industry in particular
   • Improve and formalise employment in the informal sector and sub-contracted work
   • Target particularly vulnerable groups, such as retrenchees, women and the rural and urban poor for job creation programmes

   In order to arrest current trends, interventionist policies must be established which place South Africa on a fundamentally different growth and employment path. Present approaches, conservatively framed within neo- liberal economic parameters, show little sign of working.

   We re-iterate our support for Labour's input (COSATU, FEDUSA and NACTU) to the Presidential Job Summit held in 1999. The submission highlights, amongst others:

   • Measures to prevent job losses
   • Employment creation measures
   • Support measures for the unemployed and the poor
   • Measures to formalise the informal sector
   • Identification of long-term issues and processes to be addressed after the Presidential Job Summit.
5. Challenging Neo-Liberal Approaches to Job Creation

   We believe that, given the crisis of poverty and inequality in South Africa a gradualist, trickle-down approach to eliminating unemployment has not been able to change the pattern of employment creation nor stem the tide of ongoing and large-scale job losses.

   In order to link job creation to economic transformation, assumptions around what actually constitutes a job must be challenged. A job creation strategy must therefore also address the quality of jobs created. The nature of the relationship between employer and employee also needs to be addressed. Such an intervention must attempt to shift current racially biased ownership patterns and economic power relationships. A job creation strategy that seeks to redress these imbalances must also incorporate the issues of job retention and employment security.

   Whilst the arguments of in favour of "competitiveness" seems logical, important issues are ignored. Efficiency tends to focus simply on productivity enhancements, wage moderation and flexible labour standards. It simply assumes that markets will automatically operate to remove wastage and inefficiency.

   A goal of both job creation and job enhancement requires a longer time framework than would be the case if the aim were to rapidly create short-term, poor quality jobs. We must develop a medium-term employment growth strategy rather than simply a medium-term growth policy that presumes that economic growth will automatically result in more jobs.

   How economic resources are distributed to sustain a population is a critical social issue. Job wages and benefits are the most important instruments for distributing economic resources to working people. Employment therefore plays a central role in determining the level of inequality and poverty in a country. The challenge is how do we create new jobs if we cannot even sustain the current ones.

6. A Future (Shared?) Vision for Employment Creation and Poverty Elimination

   In developing a strategic approach to job creation, it is helpful to set out a vision of what should be the end result. While not all elements of the vision might be achievable in the future, it can guide policy decisions and political positions. Labour proposes the following components for such a vision:

   • To ultimately address the ongoing crisis of unemployment, current socio-economic relations must be challenged and transformed.
   • The economy must be developed to create a demand for labour and sustain full employment. Where unemployment does occur, a guaranteed living income must be in place, but the principal objective must be full employment.
   • Every job must pay a basic living wage. There should no longer be households classified as the " working poor ".
   • Appropriate social support provisions should be in place to support the performance of household and caring labour.
   • Discrimination and structural barriers in the labour market must be eliminated.
   • Standard of living and quality of work must improve over time. Jobs must not simply be created, but also enhanced.
   • Employment creation must support the provision of public services and meet basic needs.
   • Wage differentials between different employees, particularly management and production workers, must be limited and measures to narrow the wage gap put in place

   A number of core policy areas need to be addressed when formulating an integrated strategy. To be successful a job creation strategy must aim to build the productive capacity of the economy. In other words, a job strategy must also embrace a shared vision for economic development. This means that:

   • Appropriate policies should be in place to ensure that economic development does indeed mean more jobs.
   • The appropriate industrial and technology policies must be in place.
   • Strategic trade policies must ensure that jobs are not destroyed through blind liberalisation and that the proper trade relationships are developed to support an employment growth path.
   • Macroeconomic policies should not be overly restrictive, choking off investment and limiting the effectiveness of other critical transformation projects. Macro-economic policy must be used to generate sustainable jobs within the public and private sector, and deliver services to the poor.
   • There should be a concerted effort to promote expansion of production for the to cater for the needs of the domestic market.
   • Labour market policies should aim to transform the apartheid-era structures to ensure equal access to jobs when they are created and to improve employment security.
   • Serious attention must be paid to disrupting the various enclaves of the labour market, bringing the informal sector into a formal, regulated arena, and addressing gender, race, and age dynamics.
   • The demand by employers for more "labour market flexibility ", in terms of downward pressures on wages and de-regulation, should be viewed with extreme caution as this strategy is likely to lead to further job loss.
   • Priority must be placed on job creation for marginalised groups, and rural communities in particular
   • Finally, the state must be an engine for job creation.
7. LABOUR'S VISION FOR A FUTURE MINING INDUSTRY

   As labour we have a vision for mining industry that we believe should be shared by all. We see the industry being transformed such that it:

   • Takes care of its people and puts them first by offering better employment and rigorous health and safety standards
   • Exploits South Africa's enormous mineral wealth and contributes to economic prosperity for all
   • Takes care of our environment
   • Has measures for downscaling that minimises suffering for mining communities, workers and their families.

Section B: Minerals Promotion, Management and Development

1. Information Development

   We propose the development of a new central database in the Department of Mineral and Energy that will capture the following information:

   • History and future of ore reserves.
   • Employment history in mining and quarrying;
   • Past and anticipated future retrenchments.
   • Company performance (in order to accurately predict future trends).

   We propose that the disclosure of prospecting information, investment plans (both nationally and internationally) and geological information should be incorporated in the new Mining and Minerals Act.

2. Industry Development and PROMOTION

   2.1. Gold as a Store of Value

   Most countries today have some of their reserves in the form of gold. In most countries the public takes confidence from knowing that its government holds gold - an indestructible and "real" asset. Gold is said to be the "asset of last resort". When all else fails gold is still there and will still be marketable. In recent years major developed countries have sold gold reserves in order that profit from sales could be used to reduce outstanding government debt. We have also seen the decision by the IMF to sell gold in order to finance debt relief for very poor countries. As a major mining nation we must continue to lobby for and support policy that promotes gold as a reserve asset to be held and valued by governments, central banks and people throughout the world.

   2.2 Promoting Mining

   An education and communication strategy must be developed by government and industry stakeholders for the citizens of the country. Such a strategy would entail:

   1. Communities appreciate the contribution of mineworkers in the extraction of minerals, and also know about dangers and possible health hazards accruing from such minerals. The mining industry must ensure that it effectively engage itself in social development projects such as building schools, clinics, water supply and so on.
   2. It must be ensured that mineworkers are educated on all aspects on mining processes from geological investigations, mine development, extraction, processing and marketing and sales. In the case of minerals such as gold, diamond, platinum, silver and so forth, mineworkers and their families should also be allowed to purchase and/or invest in such commodities.
   3. The Department of Education must build into "schools curriculum subjects", which encompasses the role of the mining industry in the socio-economy of South Africa. This must be seen as a build-up to preparing students in the field of mining until they reach tertiary levels of education.
   4. We propose that Government should develop a system to expose all existing minerals (or mineral rights) to the communities, in their respective areas, so as to avoid forced removals by whoever owns those mineral rights when these minerals are to be exploited. Communities must, after having made aware of the existing minerals, also have access to and benefit from such mineral rights.
   5. We propose that programmes must be developed to educate the society about the role of the mining industry and its contribution to society as a whole. Mineworkers and the communities must know the uses of all minerals and their socio-economic importance.
   6. The role and importance of the mining industry must be incorporated into our strategy to promote tourism within Southern Africa and internationally. This will enable tourists to understand the history of the mining industry in the industrialisation of South Africa.
3. Mineral Economic Development

   The development of the South African Mining Industry dates as far back as 1800 when mining started in the Witwatersrand Basin. Its activities have since been concentrated on the exportation of raw materials to well established value added international markets. This happened to the execution of local value adding sectors. Export for other minerals except for gold has in terms of volume considerably increased during the past two years at an average of 4,06 per cent for other minerals (DME: Minerals Bureau, 1999). This reflects the non-value adding nature of the South African Minerals Industry, which is still narrowly outwardly structured to serve international market interests.

   It is important for the summit to realise that the environment required for mineral development has to be informed by the mining industry whose responsibility is not only to conduct business, but also to ensure that all socio-economic developmental factors are taken into consideration. Whatever mineral economic development strategies are put in place must be informed by the need to create jobs, care for the environment, promote better working and living conditions.

   The following key issues that require vigorous attention must inform economic development of the minerals industry:

   1. The current mineral rights arrangement is very obscure particularly when it comes to ownership of mineral rights. It does not present a picture attractive either to foreign or local investors. It has benefited a tiny elite that has become powerful monopolies. It is with the background that Labour has been calling for mineral rights to be reverted to the State. Therefore, we are once more calling for the speedy implementation of the Minerals and Energy Bill.
   2. However, to reach such a level requires a transitional system of minerals rights ownership that will allow a three tier ownership arrangement where the State, communities and private sector are allowed ownership of mineral rights. This must be accompanied by a clause which enforces the principle of use it or loose it.
4. Mineral Resource Management

   We work within an inherently dangerous industry that is perceived as the traditional villain in the environmental milieu. The protection of the environment is a key issue to South Africans, and mineworkers in particular. Within the context of the developing nature of South Africa, it is imperative to seek out strategies that balance environmental standards and job creation. We also need to rationalise environmental legislation administered by different government departments, as this has cost implications for marginal mines.

   We therefore propose the following:

   1. An audit of all current environmental legislation must be completed. This audit will be used to integrate environmental legislation so that it is applicable, dynamic and accessible.
   2. All permits required by the various departments should be consolidated into a single permit authorisation document or environmental impact assessment (EIA). This will mean that a single cost is incurred in compiling the required data rather than several permits with accompanying costs for each.
   3. There should be a single government department responsible for the collection and issuing of all environmental operations permits. On receiving a permit request the government department, and we suggest Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, should be responsible for distributing the permit request to all relevant departments in order to speedily process such permits by an interdepartmental committee.
   4. Environmental legislation and the granting of permits must be flexible and take cognisance of the economic realities and national priorities, especially with regard to marginal mines. Environmental requirements must be that the environment is protected and these be balanced out with the predicament of marginal mines.
   5. As has been previously suggested, forums are established composing of communities, mine management, local/ provincial government and mineworkers. These forums are to address all socio-economic implications of mine closures and explore alternatives.
   6. These forums should discuss the participation process of authorisation of environmental permits, the protection of the environment and the rehabilitation plan. In this way the protection of the environment and economic development including job creation will be the joint responsibility of all.
   7. By breaking the chains of an adversarial approach and applying realistic integrated legislation and utilising all available skills, both the environment and marginal mines can be protected.
5. Macro-Economic Monitoring and Responsiveness
   1. There is ample evidence that, once mines have laid-off workers, and restructured to achieve optimum efficiency, there is no attempt made to work to full capacity (which would mean re-employing previously retrenched workers). Instead, companies seem determined to make maximum profits for their shareholders. Government already give mines tax breaks.
   2. Government should intervene and stipulate a profit to revenue ratio, thus obliging employers to reinvest excess profits into a fund dedicated for job creation. Once full capacity is reached, the ratio would no longer apply.
6. Managing Cyclical Volatility and Depletion

   The mining industry in South Africa is currently faced with numerous problems. Some of these problems are as a result of globalisation, socially irresponsible business attitudes and the narrow interests of developed countries. As result mineworkers are losing their jobs and communities continue to live in poverty while local economies collapse.

   In order to counter the reverberations of cyclical volatility we propose the following measures:

   6.1 Targeted State assistance to marginal mines

   Direct supply-side measures (as recommended by the cost benefit analysis study commissioned by the Gold Crisis Committee) should be considered for the whole mining industry. However, such measures should be twofold in the case of marginal mines whose future viability are:

   • Favourable, supply-side measures must assist the mines in as far as employment security and rehabilitating the environment whilst alternative economic activities are being pursued. This could closely link with the Social Plan proposal regarding transferring skills to other economic activities.
   • Very positive and only require assistance during period of hardship until such time they have emerged out of the marginal status.

   6.2 Balance between capital and labour intensive production

   1. Given the rising unemployment in the country, and given the associated social and financial costs to society (increased crime, increased pension/ welfare/ UIF payments, increased family violence, etc), it is in the national interest for the mining industry, in the foreseeable future, to be maintained as a labour-intensive industry.
   2. Mining companies need to demonstrate their patriotism by putting the national interest before profit maximisation, when they consider introducing new technology to the industry, selling off marginal mines, and lowering a mine's pay limit.
   3. Labour is not against new technology as such. However, we insist that technology is not neutral. The manner in which it is developed can either serve a small elite, or the country as a whole.
   4. The development of relevant technology that will enable mining activities to take place beyond the current deep levels is crucial for the development of the minerals industry of South Africa. However, labour will only support the introduction of new technology in as far as it sustain and creates more quality jobs. Relevant technology in this context will mean technology that is capable of balancing labour and productivity.
   5. A research and development programme geared toward producing appropriate technology for the mining industry, which harmonises with national goals, and which provides for a healthier and safer workplace, is essential.
   6. We therefore call on Government to intervene, and monitor the adaptation/ importation of new technology.
   7. New technology must be used empower workers, and create a safe and sustainable mining industry. Existing mineworkers must be trained on the use of new technology.
   8. Government should provide incentives for developing labour-intensive technology.
   9. Companies should also re-consider lowering a mine's pay limit, when they can achieve profitability at higher pay limits.

   6.3 Establishment of a Permanent Statutory Commission on Mining

   1. We reiterate our call for the establishment of a Permanent Statutory Commission on Mining whose primary responsibility will be to oversee the whole process of transformation in the mining industry. It must deal with both short-term and long-term challenges faced by the mining industry as well as the effects of downscaling.
   2. The Commission will also focus on the small-scale mining sector including the creation and promotion of an operating environment that encourages the use of best practices for industrial relations, health and safety and environmental protection. Its task is to bring small-scale mining into the mainstream. The Commission will take steps to ensure:
      • access to mineral rights;
      • access to finance for small-scale mining on equal terms with other sectors;
      • that labour and social issues are addressed and the working and living conditions of small-scale miners and their communities are improved;
      • that the environmental impact of such operations is minimised; and
      • Finally small-scale miners have the necessary technical and business skills to ensure the safe and efficient operations of their mines.
   3. The Commission will also manage the downscaling of mining and quarrying industries by:
      • Promoting and implementing a Social Plan Act, which will cushion the impact of job loss; ensure relevant, portable education, training and re-skilling before retrenchments; and the development of local economies.
      • Establishing an efficient information-gathering capacity within this body, so that continuous, comprehensive research into current and future trends in the industry is done. This will allow for proper planning.
   4. The Commission will look into establishing a programme of investment into alternative large-scale industries, and in the long term, to gradually reduce dependence the mining industry as a significant employer and earner of foreign exchange.
   5. Investigating the feasibility of employee/ state buyouts of marginal mines, in conjunction with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). This should be seen as another manner in which to
      • Prolong the life of the mine, provided that it is economically feasible and socially necessary to do so; and
      • Implement the Social Plan.

   6.4 Social Plan Act

   1. Much work has been done with regard to Social Plan through the current proposed Social Plan Technical Support Facility by Government. However, we still feel that an enabling legislative framework is necessary to deal with downscaling in the mining industry. We reiterate our call for a Social Plan Act that would ensure the following:
      • Requiring all new mining operations to submit a Social Plan, where it anticipates its eventual closure, and shows how the needs of its workforce will be catered for thereafter.
      • Facilitation of the implementation of the Social Plan (including counselling, reskilling, and creating alternative employment opportunities) to:
        • Limit job losses
        • Cushion the impact of job losses
        • Ensure relevant, portable education, training and re-skilling, before retrenchment
   2. Employers must intensify the provision of Education and Training, including ABET. There must be investment into diverse skills development to other spheres of the economy. Training of workers in various generic skills, e.g. bricklaying, electricity tubing, motor mechanic etc. should happen on an ongoing basis. A proper database must be developed in the process. At the point of termination workers can be given financial counselling and business training.
   3. These skilled workers can be redirected to growth sectors. Others can be assisted to open up their own businesses. This requires that assistance be given to these workers to do marketing research. The mining industry must be integrated into the broad economy and thus link up with opportunities in other sectors.
   4. New skills would need to take into account government programmes, which could provide work opportunities for ex-mineworkers (e.g. providing clean drinking water, electricity, health care facilities, ablution facilities, schools et cetera, in rural areas). New skills training should also harmonise with new industrial development projects (including the development of the jewellery industry).
   5. Setting up Social Plan Fund for the industry, which will finance all the activities and programmes of the Plan.
   6. The development of strategies around alternative economic activities, in the belief that there is life beyond mining, by:
      • Setting up local stakeholder forums in mining towns and rural areas (which ex-mineworkers are drawn into) to develop a strategy around alternative economic activities.
      • Requiring that mining houses indicate what their investment plans are, both nationally and internationally, within the spirit of their stated commitment to "growth and national prosperity".
      • Setting up a research process to collect all data on retrenchments, company performance etc, in order to accurately predict future trends, and anticipate possible retrenchments in the future. This is essential for forward planning.
   7. Requiring all new mining operations to submit a Social Plan, where it anticipates its eventual closure, and shows how the needs of its workforce will be catered for thereafter.
   8. Investigating the feasibility of reusing old mine dumps for building purposes e.g. roads; brick-making etc. as this could create employment.
   9. Reviving closed old mines by setting up water industries through recycling and purifying the water for various purposes e.g. drinking, irrigation water etc. as this would also create employment.
   10. Companies committing themselves to taking care of communities through creation of jobs, building roads, schools, hospitals etc. The important role of government is to provide the necessary infrastructure and to create opportunities for growth. Infrastructure covers education and training, health, housing, power, water, transport, communications, research and development and the availability of technology. For example, without tremendous government investment in research and development, the growth of agriculture, highways, airports, water and railway systems would never have been possible in many countries. These systems provide infrastructure to practically all other industries and, therefore, without their growth, the productivity increases of most industries would have been greatly hampered.

   6.5 Diversification and alternate sub-sector promotion

   1. It is in the interest of a raw material producing country as a whole (not just the primary producer i.e. the mine) to add value to raw materials for export and domestic consumption.
   2. Consideration needs to be given to regaining market share for new South African metal coins production and marketing to stimulate local and international demand.
   3. Government in collaboration with all stakeholders must set up institutional infrastructure to promote comprehensive linkages of primary and secondary sectors. This institutional infrastructure, must conduct an audit of all secondary sectors, and become the "champion" for the mineral beneficiation industry. This will ensure that practical mechanisms are put in place to create effective linkages of mining activities to local downstream economic activity.
7. Sub-Contracting and Out-Sourcing of Mining Related Work
   • The mining industry is increasingly retrenching workers and replacing them with sub-contractors. Labour is of the view that current sub-contracting practice is an abusive, inhumane, oppressive and unproductive way of managing a mining business. Sub-contracting work involves exposing workers to poor working conditions, compromising health and safety standards and destruction of quality jobs.
   • Labour is opposed to sub-contacting in its current form and calls for its regulation through the establishment of a national accreditation body, under the auspices of the Mining Commission, to register sub-contractors and ensure their compliance with legal standards and good codes of practice. This will ensure that quality permanent jobs are not replaced by non-quality sub-contracted ones. In the interim we propose that mines that outsource or sub-contract work bear full responsibility for the compliance with the law, maintenance of standards and implementation of codes of practice. Labour representatives must be fully consulted on the intention to outsource or sub-contract work and agreement sought on terms and conditions of such work.

Section C: Human Resource and Employment Issues

1. Introduction

   The values enshrined in the Constitution of our country must be reflected in all facets of the mining industry. Relations in the workplace must promote a culture of respect and dignity. This should be evident, among others, in the way that workers are treated as adults, leaders and contributors to the industry and society.

2. Job Creation Through the Promotion of Small Mining

   Small-scale mining should be encouraged where it can provide safe employment at a decent wage and will rehabilitate the environment.

   A number of women work in small-scale mines. These women, in particular, often lack training, management skills and an understanding of the legal and financial aspects of the industry. This leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. The government should support women miners.

3. Sustaining Existing Jobs

   Creating new jobs is unlikely to significantly impact on overall unemployment figures unless active measures are also taken to stem ongoing job losses. We need to ensure that "new" jobs - such as those arising from SMME's (e.g. small scale mining, sub-contracting) are not simply a transfer of a portion of jobs which are then lost in other companies.

   The objectives are therefore:-

   • At a quantitative level, to retain existing jobs or to minimise jobs which are lost
   • At a qualitative level, to protect job security and quality, and to ensure that conditions of employment and remuneration are maintained and improved.

   The following measures are proposed:

   • Labour seeks a moratorium on all retrenchments, rolled over indefinitely on a monthly basis. This will give workers a sense of employment security and allow them to focus on workplace change initiatives (including transformed management practices). This period would also allow stakeholders an opportunity to implement the outcome of the Mining Industry Sector Summit, including the Social Plan.
   • Productivity improvements, which are not matched by equal or greater growth in output, are likely to lead to job losses. Because of this relationship, any productivity agreements reached at company and other levels requires an industry commitment that jobs will not be lost through productivity improvements.
   • Where necessary and practicable, negotiated job-sharing arrangements that can be introduced through a reduction in working hours and overtime work. This can include a long leave arrangement without loss of benefits which may be entered into at workplace level.
   • Restructuring of companies, including change of ownership due to buy outs, take-overs or mergers should involve union/s at the appropriate levels and should not lead to job loss nor have other negative impact on the workforce.
   • The key recommendations from the Gold Crisis Committee (GCC) Task Team on Marginal Mines must be implemented as a matter of urgency.
4. Labour Legislation

   It is noted that there will be a national review of specific areas of labour legislation.

   In particular labour proposes the following changes related to job loss and job creation:-

   1. Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act of 1995 must be amended to make retrenchments a matter of negotiation rather than consultation. This will assist in stemming job losses, particularly in the mining industry which continues to shed jobs at a rapid rate.
   2. The provisions dealing with "dismissals for operational requirements" should apply the "no alternative" test, to ensure that retrenchments only take place when no other alternative exist.
   3. The employer must also disclose in writing and prior to the retrenchment, their level of readiness of the company in relation to implementation of all aspects of the Social Plan.
   4. The minimum severance package should be improved to 4 weeks per year of service.
   5. Any employer which employs more than 100 workers and which retrenches more than 10% of its workforce in any given year, reports such retrenchments to the Department of Labour.
   6. A reduction in the statutory hours of work from 45 to 40 without loss of pay.
   7. In the case of lay-offs as a result of liquidation workers must be treated as "preferred creditors".
5. Skills Development

   5.1. The Mining Seta

   The statutory obstacles to declaring the MQA to be the mining SETA need to be addressed as a matter of urgency by the stakeholders. (This could require procedural amendments to both the Mine Health and Safety Act and the Skills Development Act). The establishment of a mining SETA parallel to the existing MQA is undesirable, even in the short term.

   5.2. Skills Development Plans

   Disclosure of information on the life span of mines/operations with other relevant projections is vital and should be part of the various planning processes. A database needs to be established and an audit of current skills within the industry must be done to assist in determining the needs within the industry/sector. This would also help in preparing for the implementation of the Sector Skills Plans.

   The priority areas for education and training should be also informed by broader research, such as that of the National Skills Authority, the Department of Labour and other relevant Departments. Such research should provide information on areas of skills shortage and growth. This will help ensure that education and training does serve both its broad and specific purposes.

   5.3. Expansion of Quality Education and Training

   One important way of addressing the critical structural problem to job creation and job retention is by addressing the low-skills base within the economy generally and the mining industry specifically.

   A number of critical issues need to be addressed to ensure quality education and training is delivered as widely as possible within the mining industry, including;-

   • The development of quality learning materials and programmes
   • Access to learning opportunities by all levels of the workforce
   • Institutional capacity of providers - in a range of areas such as, quality assurance systems (particularly recognition of prior learning, assessment etc.), staff development and support
   • Provision of learner guidance, counselling and support
   • Sufficient and adequate funding of such education and training

   Current ABET programmes should be revisited, focusing on their relevance and effectiveness within and beyond the mining industry. The delivery of ABET should be accelerated and expanded within the mining industry. Overall skills development targets should be set for the industry. These should include targets to eradicate illiteracy and innumeracy by 2010.

   Qualifications, including learnerships, must be designed and delivered in a way that promotes maximum portable skills and knowledge for application within and beyond the mining industry. The mining industry should increase the training levy from the currently agreed 1% of the payroll to 4 % of the payroll, phased in over a two-year period.

6. Protecting Vulnerable Workers

   6.1. Safety Net-Social Security Mechanisms

   Given that structural unemployment is a fundamental problem that will not be resolved in the short-term, means that various support measures have to be taken to alleviate the plight of the unemployed, and to prevent conditions of destitution. This will also facilitate the re-entry of unemployed people into employment and have other positive consequences.

   It is proposed that the Mining Summit endorse the implementation of the basic income grant as a key element of the Welfare White paper's commitment to the implementation of a " comprehensive social security system". Further, the Summit should emphasise the importance of ensuring that increased resources are made available for bringing the bulk of the poor and unemployed people, who presently fall outside of the social security net, under the coverage of the social security system.

   The process of reviewing and restructuring the UIF needs to be expedited as a matter of urgency, to extend beyond it's limited provisions, which cover less than 10% of the unemployed at any one time. The Summit should commit itself to the approach of special rates or concessions for the unemployed in all areas of society, including transport, public amenities and other services.

   6.2. Rationalisation of Retirement Funds

   We propose one retirement fund across the mining industry. In order to facilitate this process of rationalisation of retirement funds, a mining industry bi-partite committee must be established. Investment guidelines of funds should be negotiated with direct involvement of worker representatives.

   6.3. Work for People with Disabilities

   Top on the list of priorities is the plight of those workers who have become disabled through accidents and ill health as a result of working in the industry. These people though disabled may still make a significant contribution to society in some other ways.

   The rehabilitation programmes for these workers should go beyond the medical treatment and focus at identifying jobs where they may be re-deployed within the mining industry and beyond the industry. One other mechanism could be setting up partnerships with other companies, industries, and/or/sectors where differently-able people could be employed.

   For this exercise to succeed it would be imperative to develop and up-date from time to time a database on these workers. Furthermore, for the benefit of these people, it is important to change our views about training methodology, and invoke the provisions of the Employment Equity Act.

   This also means that work has to be arranged or structured in a manner that gives them equal access to job opportunities and further development and therefore ensures that they are not automatically retrenched. It should further ensure that they are not set up for failure. This means that Learnerships must be designed to give to all workers an opportunity for development.

   6.4. Social Plan

   The purpose of the Social Plan is to put in place a key active labour market strategy which can assist in avoiding job loss and minimising the negative impact of job loss in declining sectors through the commitment of resources to the appropriate re-skilling of workers and enhancing their re-employment potential.

   The Mining Summit should map out a clear and speedy process through which Social Plan strategies will be agreed upon and effectively implemented. The Social Plan should be multi-faceted, pro-active, based on well-informed projections, integrated into overall human resource strategies and skills development plans and not start at the point of retrenchment.

   It is also critical that information flows freely, especially in terms of how the industry is envisaged in the medium to long terms, with respect to potential restructuring and the role of technology (among others). By 'medium to long term' we mean at least five years since many companies work on five-year planning cycles. This is in line with the Skills Development Act, which also requires, among others, the skill profiles of, and the Sector Skills Plans for, the workers in the industry over five-year cycles. This would also help in responding positively to the short-term cyclical behaviour of commodities, which, at times, have been used as reasons for retrenchments and job losses.

   The industry's Social Plan must be linked to the activities of the entire economy hence leaving a key development role for the local and provincial government. However, this should not remove the overall responsibility of government and employers from implementing and monitoring the impact of the Social Plan. Institutions, such the MDA, are well placed to take effective implementation responsibilities since it is already acquainted with developmental projects in labour sending areas.

   6.5. Immigration Policy

   The migrant labour system as it relates to the mining industry must be fundamentally reformed. This should be part of the move to put in place a coherent and integrated International Migration policy for South Africa.

   The approach should be "to strike a balance between the liberalisation of immigration policy and necessary government regulation in the interest of domestic communities". (White Paper on International Migration, March 1999). The long-term objective of the International Migration policy in South Africa should be to ensure free movement of people, economic integration and access to education and training within the region.

   The following principles should guide international migration policy: -

   • Government migration policy should not compromise the interest of workers in Southern Africa.
   • The South African government, with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, should seek to develop migration policy as part of a broader regional economic development plan.
   • Through effective legal guarantees of equal wages and working conditions, migration policy must avoid a situation where the employment of foreign workers leads to the de facto erosion of labour standards and a deterioration of the conditions of all workers in South Africa.
   • There should be fair and proper control of migrant workers into South Africa.
   • In the short to medium term, an agreed number of migrants from neighbouring SADC countries should be allowed access to the South African labour market and heavy fines should be imposed on employers who employ illegal immigrants.
   • Immigration policies aimed at attracting skilled workers must not jeopardise the priority of developing skills in the South African workforce.

   In addition: -

   • Compulsory deferred pay for mineworkers should come to an end.
   • While all migrant workers on mines have the right to acquire permanent residence, or South African citizenship after 5 years, this right and the right of such workers to choose to bring their families to the mine or to apply for citizenship must not be undermined.
   • The appropriate ILO conventions relating to migrancy must be ratified by mid- 2000.
7. Monitoring Results

   Monitoring is important to generate data on the extent of job losses and job creation, to encourage a greater sensitivity to job losses, and to give policy makers in the public and private sectors, the information necessary to commit to an effective set of steps to stem job losses and create jobs.

   7.1. Data Collection and Analysis

   It should be a requirement that all companies listed on the JSE reveal in their annual reports, the extent of gross job loss and job gain, in the period under review. All publicly funded corporations and institutions as well as parastatals should include gross job loss and job gain in activities and enterprises they finance and support, in their reports to parliament.

   All companies must report job losses (and gains) to the Department of Labour. Relevant data should be collected ,analysed and used in an "inter-departmental" manner, to facilitate policy development, planning , monitoring and evaluation

   7.2. Research

   Relevant research and development , particularly linked to job creation, retention of quality jobs and growth, must be supported

8. Work Re-Organisation

   The way work is currently organised is informed by a history of maintaining poor and bad jobs for lower skilled workers. This meant that the work organisation is still based on tight supervision and a long chain of command. This inherited work-organisation is inhibiting lower-skilled mineworkers and women in taking higher and influential positions in the industry.

   The current work re-organisation and restructuring initiatives should not be underpinned by the desire to achieve the ultimate goal of profit maximisation at the expense of workers. Total execution of a human development strategy across the industry that breaks with past traditions should be encouraged.

   The restructuring process should have clear objectives of designing quality jobs and not job losses. It should result in flatter reporting and remuneration structures.

   While it is important to achieve production targets and make profits, this should not be achieved through introduction of workplace strategies that would result in the systems that disregard safety, BCEA, create possibilities for retrenchments and the disregard for worker development strategy.

   Our experience has shown that full calendar operations (FULCO) has failed to sustain jobs and create new ones. FULCO must be monitored to ensure that the primary purpose, which is to maintain jobs and create new ones, is achieved. Ongoing research should be conducted to confirm if jobs were in fact saved.

   Self-directed teamwork
   This operational system should not preclude companies from drawing fundamental training programmes for lower skilled or ranked workers. Research should be done to determine whether training given to workers is purely for purposes of production targets and bonuses, or about developing and empowering workers. Teamwork arrangements should not compromise good working standards. It should not shift the company's responsibilities on HR practices and development strategy.

   Grading system
   The current grading system should also be understood against the backdrop of the job reservation/colour line era. The majority of the mining houses are still welded to the outdated Paterson grading system. Although some still believe the system is still serving them well, many companies in this sector admit that there is a need to review the current grading system. This is so because the system is still linking the grading with some benefits such as housing and discriminatory allowances. Grading should be de-linked from housing allocations.

   Wage gap
   The gap is unacceptably wide and is having serious implications for the country's labour market policy. We inherited an unfair wage gap that is depriving thousands of mineworkers of their rightful wages and salaries. The industry has to align itself with changing operational trends by working towards closing this gap.

   The remuneration policies within companies in the industry need to be regulated and directed in a way that ensures that the resources of the country are benefiting the workers, particularly in the mining sector. A research needs to be conducted in order to ascertain whether the skill import is impacting negatively on our human resource development strategy.

   Given the above, the following specific proposals are made: -

   • We need to find more effective alternatives to FULCO.
   • Training given to workers should not be purely for purposes of production targets and bonuses, but should also develop and empower workers.
   • We need to establish an Industry Grading Commission.
   • We must put in place a mechanism that will address the wage gap. This process should also be linked with the implementation of Employment Equity.
   • Workers should be given recognition for their contribution, and have authority in their area of work
   • Restructuring of only lower levels while there is duplication at the upper levels should be stopped
   • 'Self-directed' teams should be managed in such a way that they are not undermining HR practices, health and safety standards nor be used to cut the workforce.
   • Multi-skilling should not be confused with multi-tasking- - this means more focus on vertical skills and not horizontal skills. Multi-tasking should be stopped because it is used to destroy jobs.
   • Sub- contracting should be strictly controlled and monitored as it is used currently to undermine safety standards, good HR practices and destroys quality jobs.
   • Resources available for sectoral restructuring initiatives should be concentrated to finance the introduction of new technology and work organisation directed towards job creation and job retention.
9. NATURE AND ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES

   A clear Human Resources Development (HRD) vision for the industry is lacking. As a starting point, the industry needs to:

   • appreciate and promote the dignity of mineworkers
   • promote worker security and safety through maintenance and protection of labour standards
   • promote participatory and co-operative industrial relations
   • align all HR policies and practices to relevant legislation ( including the Labour Relations, Employment Equity, Skills Development, Basic Conditions of Employment and Mine Health and Safety Acts)
   • Commit to proper and effective employee support programmes, which are monitored and evaluated

   Labour believes that we need HR practitioners who:

   • appreciate and embrace transformation of the mining industry as well as all aspects of society
   • appreciate the state of the industry, the role it plays in the economy and its obligations to its workers
   • understand the dynamics of cultural diversity
   • play a developmental and enabling role as active "change agents"
   • lead by example
   • are firm to implement agreed policies in the interests of justice
   • do not divide people.
10. Employment Equity

    10.1 Implementation of the Employment Equity Act

    Implementation of the Act is slow and uneven within the industry.

    The following are priorities: -

    • Both issues of equity (leveling the playing fields) and equality (equal access without discrimination) must be addressed.
    • Labour must be actively involved (not merely "consulted") in all aspects of employment equity.
    • Employment equity must be fully integrated into the HR strategy.
    • An analysis of employment policies, practices, procedures and working environment to be done in all workplaces
    • Employment Equity Plans, preferably for a period of at least 5 years, with clear timeframes must be developed and shared with all within the company's employ.

    Mechanism to monitor and evaluate implementation of the plan should be agreed and benchmarked against short, medium and long-term goals. Getting the necessary commitment of all parties, the power of the people driving the process to take decisions and act on them as well as building the required capacity are essential for successful implement of employment equity.

    10.2 Women in Mining

    We need to consider that the mining industry is a historically male-dominated area of our economy. The lack of women on the mines also creates a living and working environment that is heavily male dominated. The gender imbalance on the mines makes it difficult to develop a genuine " mining community " and has a wide range of social consequences that are negative for the men and women affected by them. Given the Employment Equity Act, the need for transformation of the mining industry and that women are legally entitled to work underground, issues effecting women need to be urgently and collectively addressed.

    The mining industry should adopt and implement a gender sensitive approach to all issues - including policy and legislation, facilities, occupational health and safety issues, education and training and the research and transfer of technology. A gender approach is concerned with the how gender inequalities based on specific roles; responsibilities and expectations of women prevent the enjoyment of equal opportunities and treatment and how these can be addressed. The ultimate goal is the real equality of men and women in society and in the workplace

11. Health, Safety and the Environment

    11.1. HIV/Aids

    HIV/Aids in the mining industry is of epidemic proportions. A major contributing factor to the continued spread of HIV/Aids amongst miners and their families remains the migrant labour system, in particular the single sex hostels with many workers still unable to live with their families and loved ones.

    We propose the establishment of a HIV/AIDS Industry Forum, as agreed by the MHSC, by June 2000. This forum should work together with the National Aids Commission and other relevant initiatives at all levels.

    The HIV/AIDS Industry Forum should develop policy on HIV/Aids for the mining industry that includes the following:

    • An HIV/AIDS education strategy (including use of Induction and establishment of peer educators)
    • Addressing behavioural change of mineworkers
    • Access to a comprehensive TB and STD treatment programme and to free HIV/Aids treatment for workers and their dependants
    • An advocacy strategy to popularise the campaign and its core messages
    • A strategy to involve traditional healers, communities and other relevant stakeholders
    • Mechanisms to deal with HIV/Aids in a fair, non-discriminatory way in the workplace
    • Funding mechanisms

    11.2. Occupational Health and Safety

    The current decision to rationalise the Occupational Health and Safety Inspectorate and to transfer the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate to the Department of Labour was taken without consultation of stakeholders, particularly workers who's lives depend on the effectiveness of the Health and Safety Inspectorate. The whole framework for any rationalisation and the process involved must be discussed by the stakeholders, at the highest level, as a matter of urgency.

    The recommendations of the Mine Health and Safety Council Summit must be implemented as a matter of urgency. This will go some way in improving occupational health and safety on mines.

    Seismologists' tests, investigations and findings should be published regularly for the benefit of all within the mining industry. Access by mine health and safety structures to this information should be ensured. The results of the recently established commission on rock burst and pillar mining need to be made public.

    11.3. Environment

    The Mining Summit should announce its support for sustainable development - i.e. effective economic development without destroying the environmental resources. At all times the mining industry should promote participation between all stakeholders with regard to environmental issues and seek out solutions that will be mutually beneficial.

    Priority issues include:-

    • Water management
    • Waste management and pollution
    • Climate control
    • Reclamation of current and previously mined land
    • Radiation
    • Mechanism to ensure availability of finances to rehabilitate mines during and post-mining operations

    Post-mining rehabilitation should:

    • Indicate what waste material is contained in the environment
    • What the short-, medium- to long-term effects thereof are (in terms of the ecological system and the health of communities in the area)
    • Recommend effective ways of dealing with those projected effects
    • Dumping of waste should be regulated, closely controlled and managed jointly by the industry and the affected communities

    Special compensation for communities, who have suffered damages caused by mining operations, where normal legal remedies are impracticable, must be addressed. In such cases access to state funds should be ensured.

12. Language

    A language policy for the mining industry, aimed at eradicating the use of Fanakalo and implementing the multi-lingualism of the constitution, must be developed and implemented within agreed timeframes. We propose that Fanakalo is no longer in use by December 2000.

    Section D: A Strategy for Rural Development:

    1. Introduction When we look at the problems of rural areas in South Africa, the roots of the problems lie strongly in the mining industry, and it is right that this summit should look at how the industry now contributes to redressing the situation. Rural poverty stems from landlessness; it was the 1913 Land Act that denied people access to land, with the start of the homelands and bantustan system.

       The Chamber of Mines at that time was prime mover for this Act that forced black South Africans into wage labour. Hence we saw the start of the migrant labour system, the backbone of the mining industry's labour policies for many decades. Left with no other option after their subsistence farming resource base could no longer support them, most people left their areas for the mines to earn a meagre wage through which they and their families could make a living. Many of the problems of the country as a whole stem from this time.

       To us it is these two situations; namely landlessness and poverty wages that make us take with enthusiasm and seriousness the government's proposed strategy of an integrated rural development for the retrenched mineworkers. Now the challenge is to translate the strategy into an action plan.

    2. Developing a People-Centred Approach

       Our understanding of the ownership of a development process and its success lies in maximising the level of community participation and self-reliance. The real initiative for any meaningful development of the retrenches should come from the people that are directly affected. Our role is to find ways of supporting that collective voice and assisting them to reach their goal.

       It is for these reasons that the National Union of Mineworkers through its development wing, the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA) has in 1988 started rural development efforts to assist the retrenched mineworkers. These services have since expanded beyond the traditional constituency of NUM, i.e. serving not only ex-mineworkers, but also members of the communities that suffered loss of income as a result of the retrenchments in the mining industry.

       MDA's focus is on targeted economic development, but a rural development strategy is wider than this. It is important that the summit should bring in other role players that can inject skills and other new services. Structures to coordinate different stakeholders' activities should be established, to help streamline the plans and communication with the rural communities.

       It is also important to acknowledge and look at all existing to alleviate the problems of rural communities in the respective areas. MDA, COSATU's Jobs Summit 7 August 1998 input and other stakeholders' initiatives are very important for a sustainable and integrated rural development. We should also take serious the policies and what the different departments of the government are doing.

       A rural development strategy must be informed the landlessness situation, and the goals of poverty alleviation and improving the quality of life of rural people. For this to be sustainable it has to involve economic development in these areas. An integrated rural development strategy therefore has to take into account the following:

       • How to overcome the constraints to local economic development, and unlock economic potential;
       • How to do so in ways that empower local people rather than exploiting them;
       • How to deal with the social and welfare needs of rural people in the short term, as well as ensuring that as economic development happens, this translates into the social development and enhancement of the quality of life of rural people.
    3. A Programme of Action for Rural Development:

       3.1 Land Reform

       There are real opportunities in South Africa for a major programme of land reform, combined with the promotion of small scale farming among black people, which can promote economic activity and employment. Small-scale farming is important in South Africa, for growth and equity reasons. It requires land redistribution to the poor, and public support measures geared towards small farmers. The growth evidence of a land reform programme is substantial. Numerous studies show there is an inverse relationship between farm size and efficiency of resource use.

       A Kenyan study found for land of comparative quality, output on small farms was 19 times higher, and employment was 30 times higher than large farms. Other studies in India and Malaysia confirm the general relationship. In fact the World Bank has calculated that 2 million full time jobs would be created in agriculture and related activities, through a programme of land reform in South Africa. (Source: Reducing Poverty in South Africa, 1994).

       Land reform policies are also required for equity purposes. Black people were originally forced off the land. Their key source of traditional livelihood was taken over by white farmers, and converted to large-scale, often highly mechanised, agriculture. Decades of preferential access to public resources through subsidies, soft loans and market protection allowed these farmers to prosper and expand. It is time to share the land more equitably.

       We now propose that active redistribution of land policies be followed, and the government immediately identify land for redistribution. We also propose that a Land Reform Commission be set up, to develop the detailed proposals by the end of this year (2000) for a comprehensive land redistribution programme.

       We propose the following:

       • Government should develop a rural development policy aiming at reversing a century long development trend in the country.
       • There should be government to government co-operation within labour supplying countries in formulation of rural development policy.
       • Land should be made available to communities
       • Resources, in terms of training and financial services should be made available to rural communities
       • Learning institutions in the rural areas should tailor make their programmes to meet the development needs of their communities.
       • There should be a tripartite monitoring and co-ordinating structure that will oversee the implementation of integrated rural development.
    4. MDA and the Social Plan in Rural Areas

       4.1 Job Creation

       Mineworkers Development Agency has developed a model for delivery of job creation and enterprise development services into rural communities that has already received substantial tri-partite support. In 1997, the Department of Trade and Industry financed a feasibility study into the rapid expansion of MDA's programme, in order for it to reach all the mine labour sending areas. This was endorsed by the Gold Crisis Committee, and is currently in the midst of implementation; with funding from inter alia a number of mining companies.

       This core programme is outlined below. It is our recommendation that this wider mining summit note the progress made; and supports the continued implementation of MDA's programme. Particular areas requiring further contributions are proposed at the end of this section.

       The main vehicle for delivery of MDA's programmes is through 'Development Centres', targeted at communities affected by downscaling on the mines. This includes most rural areas in Southern Africa. MDA's approach aims to be inclusive; the services at these centres are open to the community at large. The services provided by the centres are summarised in the diagram below.

        

       4.2. MDA Programme Currently in Implementation:

       MDA is establishing a network of about 15 regional Development Centres, to service all the key rural mine-labour sending areas. A breakdown of the centres is below.

       The Centres provide the following services:

       • technical training on RUTEC and other small enterprise options;
       • business training and counseling services;
       • economic services: these are services that facilitate and trigger local economic activity, but are fully self-financing, and contribute to the sustainability of the Centres as a whole:
       • Bulk Supply of production inputs for local entrepreneurs. A key constraint on the diversification of rural economic activity is the difficulty entrepreneurs find in sourcing production inputs.
       • Poultry supply centres: supplying the needs of poultry producers and hawkers, including day old chicks, vaccines, feed and equipment.
       • Seedling nurseries: supplying seedlings for agricultural activity
       • Sale and Hire of production equipment, to facilitate entry into production activity.

       MDA is also establishing a network of subsidiary outlets, under each Centre, as part of its outreach programme. These outlets are based, where appropriate, at TEBA facilities at a local level. They are set up as Business Supply Stores, providing production inputs for local producers. Implementation has started in the Eastern Cape, where the Kokstad Centre will service 6 local-level outlets; and in Lesotho, where the Lesotho Centre will service 3 rural outlets. These initial outlets are being funded by the Goldfields/NUM Fund. The stores at Bizana and Idutywa have just started operations.

       MDA has established a Central Buying Agency, called Ethaleni, that provides a central Buying service to the centres and local outlets, providing rural stores with national economies of scale, with significant reductions in costs for rural producers. Ethaleni is funded by the Goldfields/NUM Fund.

       These Business Supply Stores then become a platform for a wider range of services, providing ready access to communication with the Centre for business support services, equipment maintenance services, and SMME information. They are also intended to create the conditions for rural producers to start producing higher value products aimed at external markets, assisted by MDA's Product Development and Central Marketing Units, and using these facilities to provide 'pick-up points' for such products. They are also a platform for technology promotional activities, and can develop into 'mini-centres'.

       MDA has become the largest shareholder in RUTEC, the Rural and Urban Technology Company. Rutec designs and distributes appropriate technologies for small enterprise, with associated training programmes. MDA's aim is to use Rutec to assist in the diversification of options available to rural entrepreneurs, in response to opportunities and needs identified at local level.

       MDA at a central level provides professional support services to all of the centres, including management support, 'quality control', a product development programme, and marketing support, to facilitate the shift by rural entrepreneurs from survivalist activity to more value added activity. MDA is also targeting mining towns, with centres in Welkom, Klerksdorp, and in process on the West Rand.

       4.3. Product Development and Marketing Support

       MDA is promoting the development of higher value products, using underutilised natural resources, with a number of pilot product development initiatives:

       • · A 'micro-brewery' for marula beer, and other marula and indigenous fruit products in Mhala;
       • identification of clay deposits and a ceramics feasibility study with the CSIR, in Bizana and Nqeleni in the Eastern Cape;
       • recycled paper production in Morokweng, in North West;
       • diversification of the sand stone product range in Lesotho, targeting the 'home and garden' market in SA.
       • a pilot programme with CSIR's Textek working with sewing groups in E. Cape and Mhala, to skill them to produce fabrics and products targeting the upper income and export markets, that incorporate indigenous design elements.

       All these initiatives are supported by MDA's Product Development Unit, and the Central Marketing Unit.

       4.4 MDA Centres in Operation

       4.5 Centres in Process

       4.6 Areas targeted for Centres but requiring local processes

       • Namaqualand
       • Phalaborwa
       • Kimberly

       The summit endorses and supports the continued implementation of this programme. Those mining companies that have not yet participated in funding the programme should explore ways of doing so. In particular, the following aspects still require funding:

       • Those centres for which funding has not yet been secured (see above);
       • The establishment of local-level Mini-centres or Business Supply Stores to assist with outreach within regions;
       • The establishment of additional economic services at Centres: in particular, the Poultry Supply Centres and Seedling Nurseries;
       • Sponsoring of training activities at the centres.

       Required from Government:

       • The Centres are accredited with the Department of Labour and the Department of Welfare. We need to secure training contracts with both these departments.
    5. Support for Agriculture:

       The redistribution of land has to go hand in hand with support mechanisms to assist in the development of viable agriculture. Many mineworkers have links to the land. Our strategy to support enhanced economic activity on the land has two aspects:

       • Supporting people to use the land to which they already have access more effectively to contribute to household income;
         Facilitating entry into commercial agriculture.

       MDA is seeking partners and support for a programme targeting agriculture. MDA is involved in a survey of 3,000 mineworkers, funded by the British Department for International Development, that would, inter alia, identify the extent to which miners have access to land at present, the range of agriculture related activities they currently undertake, their attitudes to extending this range, and their needs and preferences for doing so. Arising from this survey, MDA proposes to host a national workshop with key role-players in the agriculture sector, to explore potential linkages with existing initiatives and MDA's programme, particularly in relation to the promotion of higher value crops and associated support services.

       There are large areas of unutilised land on most mines. MDA is proposing a pilot project that would allocate an area of such land for the purposes of developing agricultural demonstration. The exact parameters of this would depend on the outcome of the above survey, and of a feasibility study. But the concept would be to expose mineworkers to more value-added and high value agricultural options in a low-risk environment, while they are still employed on the mine. The intention would be to explore the possibility of introducing an 'allotment' system, that would allocate a portion of land to mineworkers as part of the training programme, to allow mineworkers to develop practical production experience, an initial interface with the problems of marketing, and business skills. By locating such demonstration facilities on a mine, and preferably in a dense mining area, the potential exists to provide a quality training experience for miners from widely dispersed rural areas in a more cost effective way than trying to take that training into the field.

       The training on mine should be complemented by agricultural support services at MDA's Centres, with a focus on support for agri-business opportunities. This proposal is still in the concept stage, and extensive feasibility work is still required, but NUM/MDA is looking for partners to explore it.

       We are proposing a programme to assist a targeted group of miners into commercial farming. It is proposed that Anglo American identify one of the commercial farms they are currently putting on the market, and instead convert it into an on-the-job training facility for this purpose.

       The industry should sponsor at least 10 candidates per annum to pursue agricultural studies, followed by a period of on-the-job training in different aspects of farm management at such a farm. Discussions should be held with the Department of Agriculture and the Land Bank to discuss mechanisms for assisting such trained farmers to secure access to commercial farming land at the end of such a process. In addition the possibility of establishing 'learnerships' for ex-miner/farmers on commercial farms should be explored. Mines to support emergent farmers in their procurement policies for agricultural produce.

    6. Mineworkers as Small Scale Contractors

       Many existing rural development initiatives, such as the public works programmes, the SDI programmes, the water and sanitation programmes and the electrification programmes aim to use local contractors to implement the development of rural infrastructure. But there is a limited small-contractor base in rural areas.

       We are proposing the development of a programme targeted at the development of small contractors relevant to these infrastructure programmes that is planned and implemented in collaboration with such programmes. This requires co-ordination and co-operation with the Department of Public Works, DWAF, Eskom, and Provincial governments. The implementation of Anglo Gold's rural health initiative should act as a pilot project in this regard.

    7. Access to Credit and Financial Services

       The lack of access to enterprise credit and financial services is a key constraint on rural development. The commercial banks show no inclination to assist in solving this problem. We believe that through TEBA Bank, the mining industry has a unique opportunity to contribute to the solution to this problem. Through TEBA, TEBA Savings Fund has a network of 75 rural outlets. With the conversion of TEBA Savings Fund into a Bank controlled jointly by the industry and NUM, the opportunity exists to make a significant impact in this area.

       The summit should support the effective transformation of TEBA Savings Fund into a Bank that meets the needs of mining communities, with a particular mandate to deliver effective rural financial services.

    8. Targeting Disabled Workers

       The significant numbers of workers maimed in mine accidents is one of the 'by-products' of mining industry profits. The industry has a legal obligation to provide certain ongoing services to those miners injured in accidents. This obligation is undertaken by TEBA in rural areas, with quarterly visits to the homes of paraplegic and quadriplegic workers.

       The industry finance a programme to extend this service to include exposing disabled workers or a member of their families to skills development or self-employment opportunities, and the delivery of these in appropriate ways. This to be undertaken jointly by TEBA and MDA, in collaboration with the DoL and DOW.

    9. Tourism Initiatives

       There is potential for the creation of jobs related to tourism. The following proposals are made:

       1. MDA proposes that the tourism and tour guiding potentials from its centres should be explored. Many of the centres are located in areas that are trying to attract tourism. MDA has developed terms of reference for a feasibility study into a tourism initiative in Lesotho, as a pilot project, with the following elements:
       2. Mountain bike trails, with ex-miners providing guiding and protection. 'Out There Magazine' hosted a mountain bike trail in Lesotho and experienced a range of problems relating to security and hostility from local communities that we believe could be overcome if such trails were co-ordinated and accompanied by trained ex-miners, with relationships and benefits to local communities arranged in advance.
       3. A dinosaur trail (Lesotho has a rich resource of fossilised dinosaur remains). These trails to be designed to maximise the benefits along the way: meals catered in villages; overnight accommodation for the mountain bike trails; stops at community projects; marketing of local products.
       4. Extension of Lesotho Centre accommodation facility for back-packers.
       5. The industry should explore the possibility of converting a disused mine, or a disused portion of a mine, into a tourism facility looking at the social history of mining e.g. restoring old hostels to how they used to be. This would have to consider whether it is possible to compete with Gold Reef City.

    Section E: The Road Ahead - Implementation of the Mining Industry Job Summit Agreements

    1. Effective implementation requires a national, integrated and mutually reinforcing package of agreements, which kick start both a short and longer-term dynamic processes of employment creation and achieves the required balance. At least, core elements of policies, strategies and programmes should be endorsed or initiated by the Summit. Where possible this should include issues on institutional and legislative changes, financing proposals and timeframes.
    2. Implementation requires the commitment from all parties as well as the necessary political will to bear on clearing obstacles, which may be encountered. Substantive work will need to be done in the post-summit process to flesh out details and ensure monitoring and review. This will require consolidating existing capacity as well as expanding capacity to enable transformation and employment creation.
    3. We propose the setting up of a high-powered five-a-side tripartite committee to take forward the work of this summit. This committee will also lay the basis for the establishment of the Statutory Commission. This committee must also evaluate the workings of the GCC.