By Siphumelele Msomi
Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Phumzile Mgcina has warned that South Africa cannot afford more mining ghost towns.
Speaking at the Women in Mining and Petroleum Conference, Deputy Phumzile Mgcina linked her own background to the call for beneficiation. “I came from a mining town that has over time became a ghost town. For many years mineral wealth was extracted from that community,” she said.
Deputy Mgcina said mineral wealth left without building local industries, a mistake government is determined not to repeat. “A mine may have a life but the community around it must have a future,” she said.
Ms. Mgcina said the department is repositioning its entities to anchor value close to the point of production. The Council for Geoscience de-risks exploration, Mintek drives mineral processing technology, and the State Diamond Trader secures rough diamonds for local cutting.
On the petroleum side, she said energy security requires local capacity. The acquisition of former Sapref assets into the South African National Petroleum Company will preserve refining capacity and create jobs in refurbishment, engineering and logistics, managed through CEF, SFF, iGas and PetroSA.
She said women must be at the centre of that new value chain, from mining to fuel and gas.
