Three key pressure points to improve mining outlook

This research paper identifies three primary pressure points affecting the South African mining sector: a challenging macro-economic and global environment, structural and political risks including infrastructure gaps and labor unrest, and the need to better leverage existing competitive advantages such as reserve size and financial services.

• South Africa's mining sector is facing a combination of negative macro-economic factors, including a depreciating Rand, exchange rate volatility, and a decade of weak growth that has underperformed compared to the rest of Africa. This is compounded by global headwinds such as slowing growth in China and a dip in commodity demand and prices.
• Investor sentiment is declining due to tense labor relations and perceived political risks, particularly unpredictable policy changes during an election year. This has led to poor performance in mining investments compared to competitive sub-Saharan African jurisdictions like Mozambique, Botswana, Guinea-Conakry, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as mature jurisdictions like Canada and Australia.
• South Africa's competitive edge is being eroded by a lingering infrastructure gap, as rivals use resource-for-infrastructure deals with countries like China and Brazil. Additionally, the sector is hampered by a global skills shortage, maturing mines with decreasing yields, and uncertainty regarding future energy price hikes.
• Despite challenges, South Africa maintains significant advantages, including holding 87% of the known global supply of platinum, a strong judicial and administrative capacity, and a sophisticated mining service hub and stock exchange in Johannesburg.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2014). Three key pressure points to improve mining outlook. https://saiia.org.za/research/2014-african-mining-indaba-address-three-key-pressure-points-to-improve-mining-outlook/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Three key pressure points to improve mining outlook. 2014. https://saiia.org.za/research/2014-african-mining-indaba-address-three-key-pressure-points-to-improve-mining-outlook/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Three key pressure points to improve mining outlook |date=30 January 2014 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/2014-african-mining-indaba-address-three-key-pressure-points-to-improve-mining-outlook/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2014three, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Three key pressure points to improve mining outlook}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2014}, month = jan, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/2014-african-mining-indaba-address-three-key-pressure-points-to-improve-mining-outlook/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }