Business Report writes that Bishop Jo Seoka, chairman of the Bench Marks Foundation (BMF), on Monday called for a new model for mining.
He told delegates at the foundation’s two-day annual conference in Johannesburg, themed ‘Mining: Development or Disaster?’, that SA was in a crisis and mining was under immense pressure all over the continent. He maintained that not only was mining taking an enormous toll on people, undermining democracy, democratic institutions and political life, it was just not helping to solve Africa’s developmental needs. Seoka advocated “a rethink around mining models and fundamental change of the paradigm to one of a people-centred development and participatory approach.” He went on to say: “We strongly believe that this will only happen when people take ownership, distribute the benefits evenly and have a long-term plan of mining for people and development.”
- Read this report by Dineo Faku in full at Business Report
- Read too, Mining industry must do more for communities, says BMF, at Mining Weekly
- Read an extract from Bishop Seoka’s address to the conference at Business Report
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page