South African government should show leadership in solving mining crisis

The South African government should "show leadership" and balance the genuine needs of mining companies and workers demands while ensuring mining companies remain "profitable and alive," a South Africa senior economist said on Thursday. In an interview with Xinhua, Dr. Oren Dayan of School of Economic and Business Sciences at Wits University said the current situation in the South Africa mining industry reflects a crisis. Mines are closing shifts and cutting jobs. Miners on the other end are protesting, demanding their jobs and wage increments, said Dayan. "Government now has to show an act of leadership that can help both, the mining companies and the workers," Dayan said. In order to keep mining business alive, mining companies need to have the right to remain profitable, Dayan said. "Failing to keep these companies profitable and alive will mean a complete crisis in terms of job loss in the near future," he added. According to recent figures released by the South Africa Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), South Africa's mining industry lost more than 15 billion rand (about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in production during the strikes in the 2012/2013 financial year. The sector which is extremely important towards employment creation is now off-loading jobs in South Africa. Early this week Anglo American Platinum said it will cut 6,000 jobs from its mines near Rustenburg, fewer than the 14,000 jobs to be slashed in an initial plan. In response, unions announced that they will embark on a strike from Thursday evening. Dayan said the problem is getting more complex when the unions that represent the workers have sometimes a political involvement in the process which in turn misrepresents the true needs of the miners. He, however, urged Pretoria to take responsibility towards miners and negotiate together with the companies over the new terms of employment. "The way to solve this problem is to firstly have the government involved in the discussions," he said. "Since this sector employs a lot of workers, the government should be able to provide assistance and take responsibility towards an industry that feeds so many families," Dayan said. To pave way for permanent solution, Dayan said it should be ensured that no political groups take advantage of the miners and that miners should understand that protesting using violence and that striking is not the solution. He also urged the government to provide some aid to the sector in terms of tax benefits for both parties involved. He urged mining companies to look at providing better overall terms of employment to the miners. "Not only by increasing salaries but by providing a better package that can include other aspects to improve their terms of employment and keep their motivation up," he said.