The mining industry has called for urgent intervention to address the surge in criminal activity in the sector.This ranges from armed attacks on mining plants to cable theft resulting in inadequate rail capacity, Roger Baxter, CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, said.“There has been a surge in crime and an unprecedented deterioration in the security situation facing the South African mining sector,” said Baxter. “We cannot stress the urgency enough.”Speaking in Cape Town, Baxter said it had become so concerning that high-level discussions had been initiated with government and the police to come up with solutions to the problem.“ We a re not a military organisation,” said Baxter, referring to the industry’s inability to deal w ith attacks – particularly at gold mines in Gauteng and Nor t h We s t by A K47-carr ying criminal groups. Smelt houses are a particular target of these large groups of criminals.According to Baxter the past year has seen a massive increase in the number of attacks on plants to steal concentrate or smelted gold. Attacks were carefully orchestrated and often extremely violent – and government action was urgently needed, he said.During 2019 at least four people were murdered in attacks of which the council was aware, while several mine employees and security guards were held hostage and assaulted.Another crime concern, said Baxter, was the ongoing theft of copper cables which affected the efficiency of the railway system. This was driving up logistics costs which were making South African mining uncompetitive on the global market.“All of this crime has a critical impact on the mining sector and comes with huge costs – not only monetary but in the perception of foreign investors. We are imploring government to be far more proactive and to really take the crime matter in hand.”Baxter said the mining industry was under siege, reiterating previous calls for a special policing unit to be established to deal with mining-related crime. “We are engaging with the police and others to make sure we deal with this organised crime issue,” he said.
INSERT: The mining industry is not equipped to deal with attacks at gold mines in Gauteng and North West by AK47-carrying criminal groups.– Roger Baxter