• Pages
  • Editions
01 Cover
02 Welcome Letter / Sections
03 Index & Interview Directory
04 Section 1: Introduction
05 The Road to Recovery
06 ABSA Group Interview
07 PwC Interview
08 Regional Trends
09 Sustainability & ESG Gaining Momentum
10 SRK Consulting Interview
11 Nafasi Water & ZN Geo Services Interviews
12 Section 2: Production, Development and Exploration
13 Precious Metals
14 Gold Fields Interview
15 Harmony & Pan African Resources Interviews
16 Base and Energy Metals
17 Lepidico Interview
18 Trevali Mining Interview
19 Orion Minerals Interview
20 Vedanta Zinc International Interview
21 Kumba Iron Ore Interview
22 Diamonds
23 Lucara Diamond Interview
24 Debswana Interview
25 Section 3: South Africa
26 South Africa
27 Ministry of Mineral Resouces and Energy SA Interview
28 Minerals Council SA Interview
29 Seriti & Exxaro Resources Interviews
30 NSDV & ENSafrica Interviews
31 Insights on South African Mining Industry's Health
32 Section 4: Namibia
33 Namibia
34 Chamber of Mines Namibia Interview
35 RMB & Standard Bank Namibia Interviews
36 Walvis Bay Salt Holdings Interview
37 Insights on Namibia as a Mining Investment Destination
38 Section 5: Equipment and Services
39 The Journey to Modern Mining
40 Murray & Roberts Interview
41 Kal Tire Interview
42 Eazi Access Interview
43 METC Engineering Interview
44 Insights on Digital Mining Revolution in Africa
45 MEMSA Interview
46 Fabchem Mining Interview
47 Insights from Local Manufacturers
48 Energy
49 juwi Interview
50 Engie Impact & Vivo Energy Interviews
51 Howden Interview
52 Section 6: Sponsored Company Profiles
53 Trevali Company Profile
54 Murray & Roberts Company Profile
55 Concluding Remarks
56 Credits

Lehlohonolo Amos Molloyi, CEO,

MINING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS OF SOUTH AFRICA (MEMSA)

"We aim to position South Africa's mining capital goods, components and product manufacturers as a cost-competitive, innovative, and transformative industrial cluster."

What is the mission of MEMSA in South Africa?

MEMSA was established in 2016 as an industry cluster organization, advocating for and promoting the interests of its members and the mining equipment manufacturing industry in South Africa. We aim to position South Africa's mining capital goods, components and product manufacturers as a cost-competitive, innovative, and transformative industrial cluster. A company is eligible to apply for membership if it is a registered, tax-paying entity that manufactures mining-related products, components and equipment; and it must be at least 26% South African owned. Our members have committed to reach B-BBEE Level 4, and 26% black ownership. Our membership base has grown significantly since our establishment, and today we have 36 members, of which 80% have black ownership.

We continue our advocacy and are continuously in discussion with government and relevant stakeholders to advance our purpose. Through our relationship with government, we are discussing and monitoring the impact of legislation on equipment manufacturers and highlighting ways in which the South African mining equipment industry can best be supported by legislation and policies to reach its potential for growth and job creation. In our efforts to promote local content, we are working hard towards the displacement of imported mining capital equipment as well as local development of technology and IP to support improvement, localization and transformation in the supply chains of local OEMs.

Can you give an overview of MEMSA members' experience with the pandemic and how the organization helped them to mitigate the risks?

The impact of Covid has been quite drastic on the mining industry. Fortunately, the government declared certain operations as essential and critical activities could continue with strict protocols. Many mines could, however, only operate at 50%, which had a great impact in terms of a supply and services perspective. Employees could claim from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which provided relief. As MEMSA we assisted members in staying on top of the regulations, requirements and essential contacts, and hosted workshops where members shared tips on coping with the new environment we so suddenly found ourselves in. We arranged sessions where the IDC presented their distressed business and specialised funding instruments, and we used our website to keep members up to date on other funding opportunities, such as for small businesses.

In what ways does the mining charter support local manufacturers?

The mining charter puts in place a target of 70% of total mining goods procurement spend on South African-manufactured goods, with a minimum of 60% local content. Mines are required to achieve compliance through a combination of scores for procurement of goods and services, employment equity and human resource development. The South African mining industry's supply chain needs to be upgraded to track local and imported purchases. Therefore, the DTIC, with the assistance of the IDC, is developing a Standardized Coding and Product Identification System that can identify products using a unique name and code. Such a system will greatly improve the efficiency of the whole mining supply chain, with significant cost savings for mines. The system will make it easy for companies to tell just how much of a procured item is local content, and where it was manufactured.

How would you describe the skill pool and labour availability in South Africa?

Progress has been made in education and preparing ourselves for the digital mining revolution. WITS University as an example has DigiMine, University of Pretoria has virtual reality and 3D labs, and the University of Johannesburg has a mock mine. These are state-of-the-art mining laboratories and facilities for developing and testing digital technologies to make mining safer and sustainable, and preparing students for the real world of mining as well as cutting edge RDI.

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Interview: Fabchem Mining