South African mining stuck in ’19th century’

Wildcat strikes across the South African mining industry prompted by the killings at the Marikana platinum mine more than a month ago continued on Wednesday, threatening the economic stability of the country and the profitability of its resource sector.

Fin24 has a choice quote from Mamphela Ramphele, anti-Apartheid activist, academic and Gold Fields board member, who was speaking at a Cape Town leadership conference:

“We’ve just had this tragic Marikana debacle, and what was in evidence there is the consequence of South Africa failing to transform the mining industry from a 19th century business model, which relies on cheap migrant labour, very archaic mining technology and a… low-skilled, labour-intensive industrial base.”