Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s briefing on Sunday night, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, met with the Minerals Council on Tuesday to discuss how the sector is going to withstand the recent Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
The department said it had been placed on high alert following the outbreak, but believed it had the adequate measures in place to mitigate the impact of the virus.
“Working together we have made great strides on the health and safety front in the sector. We are confident that our continued partnership to proactively manage the humanitarian and economic impact of this pandemic on the sector will go a long way,” Mantashe said.
He added that the department would concentrate on facilitating pre-emptive measures in line with the ten-point plan established by the Department of Health (DoH) and National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
No cases have been reported in the sector so far, with the department confirming that discussions between them and the sector are still under way. – Bjorn Vorster