Johannesburg - South Africa needs to explore new opportunities in the mining industry if the sector is to help government tackle poverty and unemployment, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Wednesday.
The country should ensure that it did not lose out in the "next boom" of mining.
"We need to think beyond just mining, we need to start exploring other opportunities that are linked to mining and here we are talking beneficiation and many other things that we can do," Shabangu said at the end of the inaugural Mining Lekgotla held by her department and the Chamber of Mines.
Delegates at the two-day meeting discussed issues pertaining to skills development, youth participation in mining and how the sector can help add weight to government's target of five million new jobs by 2020.
Scarce skills were needed in the sector since there was emphasis on the "legacy of scars" left by mining activities. Such legacies included acid mine drainage and unprotected old mines that have led to the scourge of illegal mining.
South Africa was among the richest countries in the world in terms of mineral wealth, but the country's gold and diamond reserves are said to be on the decline.
A task team would be set up to look at best international practices that can help prolong the country's gold and diamond reserves.
Chamber of Mines President Xolani Mkhwanazi said the task team would also look at how to make South Africa's mineral products "sexy" and attractive.
"We want to do away with the mentality that South Africa's products are not good enough, we want people to be able to appreciate our local stuff," he said, adding that in his ideal world, South Africans would be able to purchase their wedding rings made in South Africa by South Africans.
Earlier in the day, the Chairperson of the Congress of South African Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa), Patekile Holomisa, argued that communities in mining towns were still being "side-lined" from mining activities taking place in their backyards.
"You ask yourself how can that be, how the very same people who should be benefiting in these mining activities are not involved in anything whatsoever? At the very least, the people are saying much needs to be done to ensure that social amenities such as schools, clinics and libraries are being provided as compensation," Holomisa said.
He said traditional leaders were worried that mining companies focused mainly on profits and ignored issues of safety and well-being of miners and their families.
Contralesa was aware that new technology was in place to promote safety and minimise fatal incidents in mines but much still needed to be done to educate employees on safety issues.
