The Department of Mineral Resources on Monday released a statement expressing the concern of Minister, Gwede Mantashe, at the killing of mining executives.
Mantashe was visiting Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), which has been under siege from criminal elements which have attacked the company infrastructure, with a suspected arson attack as recently as a few days ago. In addition, since 2015 three of its employees have been killed. Nico Swart, a general manager at RBM, was the latest victim, being killed by unknown gunmen at the end of last month.
RBM is owned by Australian company Rio Tinto, one of the biggest mining companies in the world. Planned expansions of RBM have been put on ice following continuing community violence which has hampered the organisation’s operations.
Mantashe and members of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, including Premier Sihle Zikalala, visited the company with a statement from the Department. It read, in part: ‘The minister cautioned against the killings of mining executives across the country. Such killings taint the image of mining in South Africa.’
The statement quoted Mantashe as helpfully saying: ‘We must appreciate that crime is not a mining activity. Hence, we invited the Police to help us deal with crime in mining.’
The statement also quoted Mantashe as saying: ‘If there is a view out there that it is dangerous to invest in South Africa, we will not see investment. There may be problems; however, if we work together, we can resolve our problems. South Africa is open for investment, and we reassure the investor community that it is safe to invest in South Africa.’
It is not clear if Mantashe’s comments have indeed allayed fears of investors, or whether they will still be wary of investing in the country.