By SANDTON — Delivering the closing remarks at the Joburg Indaba 2026, Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe called on industry leaders to move beyond a traditional “pit-to-port” model and commit to a transformative vision for South Africa’s mining sector.
Addressing captains of industry at The Inanda Club, Mantashe anchored his economic blueprint on four fundamental pillars: exploration, value addition, skills development, and market diversification.
Breaking the Exploration Stalemate
Mantashe emphasized that “there can be no mining without exploration,” noting that current investment levels remain far below what is required to secure the next generation of mines. While praising Anglo American for pledging R600 million to the Junior Mining Exploration Fund (JMEF)—which is actively driving historically disadvantaged South Africans into the sector—he cautioned that the broader established industry has lagged.
“It is not desirable for established mining companies to wait for junior miners to make discoveries and then enter the picture once the risk has been reduced,” Mantashe stated, calling for early-stage partnerships that share capital, technology, and geological expertise.
Moving Past the Pit-to-Port Model
Turning to downstream growth, the Minister criticized the historical reliance on raw mineral exports, warning that shipping out unrefined commodities means exporting vital jobs and industrial capacity.
He urged both government and private entities to mobilize investment into processing, manufacturing, and local value chains, pointing to recent milestones like the opening of Phase 1 of the Steenkampskraal Monazite Plant as vital steps in capturing the global critical minerals economy.
Transformation, Safety, and Energy Security
Economic inclusion remained a central theme, with Mantashe defending transformation as a matter of “economic justice and practical experience” rooted in historical realities. He highlighted the rise of prominent black-owned and reconfigured mining giants—including African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), Exxaro, Seriti, Thungela, and Valterra—as evidence of a shifting industrial landscape that is critical for retaining social legitimacy.
On safety, the Minister addressed a sobering reality for the sector. Although 2025 marked a historic low with 41 fatalities, the current year has already recorded 52 deaths, primarily driven by the gold and platinum sectors. Mantashe urged companies to treat the goal of “Zero Harm” with absolute urgency.
Finally, pointing to global geopolitical volatility, rising fuel prices, and supply chain vulnerabilities heightened by Middle Eastern instability, Mantashe stressed that South Africa must accelerate self-sufficiency by investing heavily in the exploration and refining of its own domestic petroleum resources.
