‘Immediate Steps Could Improve Mining Situation’

While in favour of the broad growth goals of the national Infrastructure Development Plan, trade union UASA points out that it is a long term plan, and that while it is being implemented, mines are shutting down and employees are losing their jobs.

Franz Stehring, UASA divisional manager for mineral resources, believes that the Northern Cape-Saldanha development corridor provided for by strategic integration project (SIP) 5 is a key priority of the infrastructure development plan for mines.

"Areas of the Northern Cape cannot be mined at this stage because of a lack of transport infrastructure," he says.

Once the appropriate railway structure is in place, those mines will become more viable, resulting in more employment and the growth of beneficiation in the region. He asserts that provisions for improved power infrastructure development will support mining in the long term. However, Stehring points out that in the short term, other measures could be taken to