Even before Covid-19 hit South African shores, the mining industry was already in a structural decline and, without significant intervention to alter this trajectory, the sector’s output, employment and economic contribution will continue to decline.
Business for South Africa (B4SA) risk work group head and former Anglo American South Africa deputy chairperson Norman Mbazima says that between 2010 and 2018, the South African mining industry’s real output value in dollar terms decreased by 10%, total direct employment shrunk by 50 000 and yearly capital expenditure shrunk by 45%.