DA to request special urgent oral question on mining jobs crisis
6 August 2015
In light of the on-going jobs crisis in South Africa’s mining sector, aided by a number of questionable government interventions, the Democratic Alliance has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, to request a special urgent oral question to Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi, in terms of rule 112.
In terms of this rule, Speaker Mbete, in consultation with the Leader of Government Business, Cyril Ramaphosa, can place an urgent question for oral reply on the order paper during a question session when such a minister would not ordinarily be required to answer questions.
Given the thousands of job losses being experienced in the sector, and the ill-thought out recent intervention by the minister, to revoke the licence of Glencore’s Optimum Colliery, both Ms Mbete and Mr Ramaphosa should act swiftly to ensure that Minister Ramatlhodi account to the House.
The DA will specifically ask Mr Ramatlhodi to explain whether, given the current crisis and uncertainty in the mining sector, together with falling commodity prices and job losses facing the sector, he exhausted all possible avenues and took any exceptional measures to resolve the dispute over retrenchments before shutting down Glencore’s coal mine.
Many of South Africa's mines are in dire straits because of the perfect storm created by the pressure of poor government regulation combined with plummeting mineral prices. The last thing the sector needs on top of this storm is regulatory harassment.
The first duty of government in the current economic climate is to make it easier for mines to operate. If it creates unnecessary difficulties it will increase the likelihood of job shedding and mine closures. Thousands of South Africans have already lost their jobs in mining. That will lead to untold hardship for them and their families.
It is therefore of extreme importance that this matter is urgently prioritised by Parliament. We therefore look forward to the Speaker’s prompt response, and urge Deputy President Ramaphosa to assist the National Assembly in making this happen, as soon as possible.
Statement issued by James Lorimer MP, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources, August 6 2015
