African countries must unite and speak to the world with one voice. That is the view of South Africas Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, who told delegates at the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba that Africa was stronger together. Amid much global uncertainty, we are witnessing heightened geopolitical tensions in the world driven largely by competition among developed economies seeking greater control over the natural resources of developing nations, said Mantashe. It is not our fault we have deposits here in Africa, but the great nations want control over them. We have a responsibility to protect them. He said if South Africa were to discover copper, it would have an obligation to engage with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC. We cannot flood the market suddenly and kill the price of copper, albeit unintentionally. Latin America is very heavy on copper and competing with us. We must therefore work together as countries in Africa. We need to compare notes as the African continent. We have a strategic imperative to act collectively. He likened it to workers unsuccessfully trying to leverage an employer as individuals. If you join a union, then you have collective power and can speak to the employer. The same applies to the continent. We owe it to ourselves to unite and work together. That is what this continent needs the most. South Africas mining sector, however, is arguably not in the best condition when compared to the rest of the continent. One of the biggest challenges remains the implementation of a capable, workable online cadastre system, which has been in the pipeline since 2022. The cadastre system is heralded as a solution to unlock the benefits of the mining value chain. It is a much-needed development to address, in particular, the massive backlog of applications for mining and exploration permits and rights, as well as to improve permitting processes. According to Mantashe, data issues are behind the delayed rollout. He said that despite the challenges faced with data and the cadastre system, South Africa had granted 358 prospecting rights and 32 mining rights between February 2025 and January this year. South Africa also faces challenges with the revised Mineral Resources Development Amendment Bill. Industry experts say the bill needs to address and clarify issues around beneficiation, time periods for the processing of applications, as well as general matters relating to black economic empowerment, labour, the environment, health and safety. LV
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