OPERA TING ENVIRONMENT T he Miner als C ouncil w orks t o cr ea t e an enabling oper a ting en vir onment f or the mining sect or b y engaging with go v ernment r egula t ors and labour on k e y is sues t o pr omot e the c ompetitiv enes s of the sect or K e y is sues include indus try w age r e vie w s infr as tructur e challenges social infr as tructur e de v elopment in mining ar eas and crime in the mining domain Implementa tion of the 20 18 gold w age agr eement In 20 19 the Miner als C ouncil engaged on the implementa tion is sues arising out of the 20 18 gold w age agr eements One of the implementa tion is sues w as an incr ease in the funer al c o v er benefts f or the majority of gold sect or emplo y ees T he Miner als C ouncil pla y ed a leadership r ole in the multi party task t eam t o bring about impr o v ed funer al c o v er benefts f or emplo y ees in the bar gaining unit T he Miner als C ouncil suc c es sfully negotia t ed with the Rand Mutual As sur anc e RMA f or an incr ease in funer al c o v er benefts a t the same pr emium as in the pr e vious y ear T he RMA agr eed t o incr ease the funer al c o v er benefts a t no e xtr a c os t T he ne w and impr o v ed funer al c o v er also included a pr emium w aiv er upon the dea th of the main member meaning tha t the polic y w ould c ontinue a t no c os t t o the spouse and childr en T his polic y came int o ef ect on 1 Dec ember 20 19 C oal w age dec entr alisa tion pr oc es s During the y ear under r e vie w the Miner als C ouncil engaged with indus try unions on the int ention b y c oal members t o dec entr alise w age negotia tions A ft er e xt ensiv e and r obus t discus sions the Miner als C ouncil on behalf of its c oal members serv ed the fnal notic e of withdr a w al fr om c entr alised c ollectiv e bar gaining with the f our indus try unions T he ef ect of this w as tha t the c entr alised c ollectiv e bar gaining f orum f or the c oal sect or c eased t o e xis t and henc ef orth the unions w ould deal dir ectly with the individual c ompanies in r espect of all ma tt ers r ela t ed t o w age negotia tions Infr as tructur e challenges T he Miner als C ouncil acts t o help incr ease the mining sect or s c os t c ompetitiv enes s and e xpand its infr as tructur e base T his r ole includes f acilita ting discus sions on ne w capacity in r ail ports w a t er and electricity T he Miner als C ouncil unders tands tha t unc ompetitiv e c os ts and infr as tructur e c ons tr aints need t o be r esolv ed the sect or is e xposed t o 45 of its int ermediary c os ts t o go v ernment or s ta t eo wned ent erprise pr oducts and servic es f or its tr ansport and logis tics T he mining indus try suc c es sfully r esis t ed pr oposed e x orbitant electricity tarif incr eases thr ough the Multi Y ear Pric e Det ermina tion 4 pr oc es s with opposition t o a subsequent r egula t ory clearing ac c ount applica tion t o NERS A s till t o be decided upon b y tha t body Although se v er al polic y pr onounc ements ha v e been made f or signifcant r es tructuring of the electricity supply indus try pr ogr es s w as slo w during 20 19 Changes mainly r e v olv ed ar ound boar d appointments tha t w ould hopefully yield positiv e r esults in futur e Although c on v ersa tions with T r ansnet only s tart ed t o w ar ds the end of 20 19 bef or e a ne w boar d chairperson w as appoint ed indica tions w er e tha t pr ogr es s c ould be made in futur e not only in t erms of gr ea t er capacity made a v ailable t o mining c ompanies but also in t erms of some s tructur al changes Illegal mining and or ganised crime T he challenges of illegal mining and other or ganised crimes link ed t o the mining sect or r equir es a c ollabor a tiv e multis tak eholder appr oach T he Miner als C ouncil is c ommitt ed t o w orking with the v arious la w enf or c ement agencies including the South A frican P olic e Servic e and the multiagenc y Na tional C oor dina ting S tr a t egic Management T eam t o mitiga t e the thr ea t of illegal mining the criminal thr ea t t o the pr ecious metals supply chain and other or ganised crimes link ed t o the mining sect or acr os s all le v els of the v alue chain Illegal mining is a sour c e of major social c onfict tha t has alr eady r esult ed in serious nega tiv e impacts on human lif e and security and signifcant damage t o pr operty infr as tructur e and the en vir onment In addition the theft of c opper cables and damage t o equipment tha t c ontains c opper and goldbearing ma t erials ar e other k e y ar eas of c onc ern as this leads t o pr oduction s t oppages los ses and adv erse en vir onmental impacts T he impacts of these activities ar e wider anging and subs tantial af ecting both go v ernment and society a t lar ge in the f orm of social ins tability los s of r e v enue and emplo yment opportunities and high le v els of sec ondary crime Ha ving as ses sed the na tur e and sc ope of the is sue the Miner als C ouncil and its members ar e fully c ommitt ed t o supporting the int egr a tion and r egularisa tion of artisanal mining wher e this can be undertak en saf ely in an en vir onmentally r esponsible manner and without undermining the health saf ety and security of other persons including a t la wful mining oper a tions T he Miner als C ouncil belie v es tha t priority mus t be giv en t o the de v elopment of s tr a t egies pr oc es ses and infr as tructur e f or int egr a ting artisanal mining int o the South A frican ec onom y Such r egularisa tion c ould ensur e liv elihoods f or thousands of skilled e x miners who ha v e los t their jobs due t o a decline of f ormal lar gescale mining in South A frica S tr a t egic Goal 2 P age 7 6