Mr de Ruyt er s initial perf ormanc e has been a r a y of light as he has ent er ed serious c onsulta tions with major cus t omers and left us in no doubt tha t he unders tands wha t needs t o be done on the oper a tional side T he int ensiv e maint enanc e pr ogr amme he will ha v e t o carry out will c ontinue t o ha v e an impact on po w er supplies ther e is no w a light a t the end of the tunnel S till w e w er e f or c ed t o spend a gr ea t deal of ener gy early in 20 19 opposing Esk om demands t o NERS A f or incr eases of some 15 a y ear f or the f ourth Multi Y ear Pric e Det ermina tion MYPD4 period and then again t o oppose the Esk om R egula t ory Clearing A c c ount applica tion f or an additional R2 7 3 billion in r e v enue f or pr e vious r e v enue shortf alls and c os t o v erruns NERS A s la tt er decision w as y et t o be deliv er ed a t the time of writing And this doesnt e v en begin t o addr es s the fscal challenges of Esk om s R45 3 billion debt bur den W e look f orw ar d t o the da y tha t those r esponsible f or this unt enable debt situa tion due t o c orruption and malf easanc e c ome t o f ac e civil and criminal actions f or their deeds All these f act ors led t o the decision b y Moody s on 2 7 Mar ch 20 20 t o do wngr ade South A frica s r a ting t o a position belo w in v es t or gr ade As w e s ta t ed a t the time while w e w er e disappoint ed a t the de v elopment w e w er e not surprised giv en the pa th tha t go v ernment had led us do wn o v er an e xt ended period W hile the er a of gr os s c orruption and ec onomic mismanagement is o v er the ne w go v ernment w as t oo slo w in addr es sing the s tructur al changes tha t mus t be made t o turn the ec onom y ar ound T he other big challenge f or the indus try and the r egula t or is the s till unr esolv ed ma tt er of Mining Chart er 20 18 MC20 18 published in Sept ember 20 18 T he k e y is sue is MC20 18 s nonr ec ognition of the c ontinuing c onsequenc es of pr e vious tr ansactions in r espect of r ene w al or tr ansf er of mining rights F ollo wing some months of unsuc c es sful engagements with the DMRE in Mar ch 20 19 six months f ollo wing the publica tion of M C 2 0 1 8 a legal t echnicality f or c ed the Miner als C ouncil t o fle an applica tion f or the judicial r e vie w and setting aside of those and c ertain of its other clauses It w as a s t ep w e t ook with r eluctanc e T he timing w as based pur ely on the 180da y s ta tut ory time limit f or a fling in t erms of the Pr omotion of A dminis tr a tiv e Jus tic e A ct It will s till be a ma tt er of r egr et if this is sue has t o pr oc eed thr ough the c ourts as w e belie v e tha t a negotia t ed settlement of the MC20 18 c ont es t ed elements w ould be f ar pr ef er able t o wha t is lik ely t o be a length y legal pr oc es s T her e has not been an y signifcant pr ogr es s other than thr ough the c ourts W e appeal t o go v ernment t o c onsider the r esumption of these engagements As it is the mid April da t es set f or the c ourt hearing ha v e had t o be pos tponed which serv es t o e xt end the period of unc ertainty in v es t ors will c ontinue t o f ac e T his is na tur ally not good f or the indus try or the ec onom y as a whole In an a tt empt t o bett er unders tand the tr ansf orma tion situa tion in our indus try the Miner als C ouncil c ommis sioned and published in Dec ember 20 19 a r eport b y an independent advisory frm t o as ses s the indus try s c omplianc e with the pr e vious chart er MC20 10 applicable until 20 18 T he r esear ch f ound subs tantial c omplianc e and signifcant pr ogr es s in the indus try s ef orts t o tr ansf orm the mining sect or though ther e w er e c ertain ar eas wher e some c ompanies lagged W e ar e a w ar e of the need f or this journe y t o c ontinue T he Miner als C ouncil r eit er a t es its c ondolenc es e xpr es sed t o the c olleagues f amily and friends of Deputy Miner als R esour c es and Ener gy Minis t er Ba v elile Hlongw a who died so tr agically in Sept ember In c onclusion I w ould lik e t o of er some ackno wledgements Firs t I ackno wledge the s t erling w ork b y Miner als C ouncil CEO R oger Baxt er and his t eam during these incr easingly challenging times f or the indus try It is thanks t o their w ork tha t the indus try is as w ellplac ed as it is t o mo v e f orw ar d int o the futur e I w ould also lik e t o thank all Boar d members and Ofc e Bear ers f or the support and guidanc e the y ha v e giv en t o me and t o our Miner als C ouncil c olleagues both o v er the pas t y ear and o v er the las t thr ee y ears Among these ar e Andile Sangqu who depart ed a t the beginning of 20 20 aft er a r emark able spell as a vic e pr esident of our or ganisa tion I o w e him m y personal thanks f or the w ork he has done f or the indus try as a whole And I w elc ome Zanele Ma tlala and thank her f or the ener gy she has c ontribut ed t o the ofc ebear ers t eam in her brief time with us Finally as w e f ac e an int er es ting and challenging futur e in t erms of managing C O VID 19 and sa ving our ec onom y the point mus t be made tha t lif e will ne v er be the same again But as the Miner als C ouncil on behalf of the South A frican mining sect or w e s tand r eady t o w ork hand in hand with go v ernment or ganised labour and society t o bea t this pandemic and emer ge a s tr onger and mor e unifed sect or and na tion Mining will pla y its positiv e r ole and w e will Mak eMiningMa tt er Mx olisi Mgojo Pr esident Miner als C ouncil South A frica 7 Ma y 20 20 P age 29 MINERALS C OUNCIL SOUTH AFRICA INTEGRA TED ANNU AL REVIEW 20 19