JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A total of R2.1-billion has been ring-fenced by the Department of Human Settlements over the medium-term expenditure framework period for housing projects in mining towns, with R290-million of this amount to be spent in the current financial year, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.

Radebe was briefing the media following a meeting of the Mining Sector Consultative Forum convened by President Jacob Zuma, in Pretoria, where a progress report on the implementation of the Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry that was signed by business, government and organised labour in 2013, was presented.

The Minister noted that improving the living and working conditions of mineworkers was one of the objectives of the agreement, with 14 mining towns identified by government to receive support from the fiscus.

The 14 towns were located in the Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West and included areas such as Rustenburg, Randfontein, Westonaria and eMalahleni.

Also speaking at the media briefing, Mineral Resources Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi stated that this contribution by government would, however, not take the place of private sector investment in mining areas.

“But as we struggle to resolve the conflicts, I indicated that government will come to the party and that is what we are doing,” he said.

He added that through the revitalisation of mining towns, government would not only be focusing on providing houses, but also on creating viable economies in the areas around mines.

He stated that special economic zones were being established in mining areas to ensure that “there is life after mining” ceases in those areas.

“The magnitude of this intervention is huge and goes far beyond houses,” Ramatlhodi asserted.

Meanwhile, he also said that, while the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) had not yet signed the framework agreement, the union was participating in deliberations around its implementation.

“We will take every effort to ensure that AMCU’s participation will eventually result in [the signing of the agreement], “ Ramatlhodi said, adding that he hoped that the union would be present at the next consultative forum meeting.

Further, Radebe noted that the consultative forum participants had also discussed a review of the country’s mining strategy and the alignment of mining infrastructure requirements to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission’s objectives, as a critical long-term intervention to ensure the sustainability of the industry.

“We have initiated a process to provide for a coherent response to what is emerging in my view, that there is some element of withdrawal from South Africa by big business, or international companies,” Ramathlodi said, adding that there had to be a coherent strategy in place, which also empowered the South African people.

“There was a decision, as this forum, that business, government and labour will jointly mobilise local investment, as well as foreign-direct investment, into the mining sector,” Radebe added.