JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s only community owned mining group, Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat), on Tuesday highlighted the positive contribution being made to the local mining industry by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and pledged to do its bit towards conquering poverty and unemployment.

In reporting before-tax profit of R316-million in a presentation of turned-around financial results for the 12 months to December 31, RBPlat CEO Steve Phiri said that the government and industry had collaborated to put in place a workable legislative framework for mining, which was not having to resort repeatedly to a global positioning system to locate the regulatory goalposts, as had been the case in the past. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

“To a large extent, the new charter is something we can live with,” Phiri said of the revised Mining Charter III.

While there were still some areas of the charter that were a bit problematic, he said that the mining industry was in engagement with the Ministry to sort out its remaining aspects.

“When one speaks of economic transformation, one does not have to look very far to find the many failures, well-intentioned or not. Failed transformation hurts the people who depend most on the successful transformation,” Phiri told investors, analysts and journalists at the presentation covered by Mining Weekly Online.

He submitted that failed transformation was worse than slow transformation, as was evident in many State-owned entities, including Eskom, “never mind the revelations of corruption that rear their ugly heads day by day”.

He described RBPlat’s transaction with Anglo American Platinum to take full control of the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine as a commitment that was helping to build the nation and an example of what South Africa needed to help transform itself.

“You don’t need a sjambok to transform yourself. It has to be willing and well-intentioned and all will fall into place,” Phiri said.

To date, the black-owned and -managed RBPat platinum group metals (PGMs) mining company has invested R1 150-million in social and labour plan (SLP) upliftment.

In the last year alone, it spent more than R63-million on SLP projects and now has more than 1 000 families living in its housing estate. These are homes that RBPlat employees own.

“We believe we’ve developed an excellent base for growth as we go about fulfilling our mission to unlock the good in mining,” he said.

RBPlat’s capital expenditure (capex) increased by 60% to R3 459-million, with the company able to fund 37.3% of its capex from cash generated by its operations.