CAPE TOWN – South Africa remains one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world with more than $2.5 trillion (R36.2 trillion) mineral wealth still in situ.
This is according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who told delegates at the Africa Down Under event earlier this year that as things stood no country could match South Africa in terms of mineral diversity offerings.
Data from Statistics SA show that South Africa’s mining industry is one of the key economic sectors in the country, contributing about 7.5 percent to gross domestic product (GDP), 30 percent of export earnings, and more than 450 000 direct jobs.
However, all this is in vain if there is no power to run these mines. For mines to operate, there needs to be access to power and it needs to be reliable. Power outages in recent times have risked production levels and in turn thousands of jobs as well as put pressure on the country’s ailing economy.
A potential solution has been for mines to generate their power. This has its advantages and disadvantages. In some cases, private power generation has worked well when regulations allow for mines to build their power plants and also supply to local communities.
For the rest of this article: https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/bringing-an-end-to-south-africas-power-struggle-39322268