Mining employment scenarios for South Africa to 2024

Abstract

This report was prepared for the HSRC and seeks to investigate potential employment in the South African mining industry. The paper focuses on: 1. An assessment of the rate and nature of investment in South Africa's mining industry. This necessarily has to be conducted on a commodity-specific basis and be based on global supply / demand scenarios and planned investments. 2. An assessment of the employment drivers in mining, how these relate to mining investment and in particular whether significant technological changes to mining methods amounting to greater mechanisation will be widely adopted. 3. An assessment of employment, incomes and occupational skills levels, which will be largely determined by the above investment and mining methods drivers. 4. An assessment of the inter-sectoral linkages between mining and upstream suppliers, side-stream (equipment, services and consumables) as well the impact on downstream industries.