Municipal infrastructure is both crucial for supporting the mining sector, and can depend on mining to support municipal growth. It requires good leadership, skilled human resources and forward thinking to ensure a win-win environment for both mining and municipal infrastructure development.
This emerged during a panel discussion on Infrastructure for Mining, Industrialisation and Resource Beneficiation at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA), hosted by Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) in Cape Town.

Luphumlo Ngcayisa, Communications Strategist and moderator of the panel, noted: “What remains of the economy when the mine eventually closes? A mine has a lifecycle but a city does not have that luxury – it remains, and must take care of past, present and future generations. The infrastructure we build around mining must also use mining investment to build infrastructure for future economies.”

Panellists noted that mining enabled infrastructure development, saying that mining investment allowed municipalities to take a long-term view and borrow against the government for infrastructure projects.

Building on mining investment

Cllr. William Matsheke, Executive Mayor of Rand West, said the mining sector made a significant contribution to municipal economies.

“In Rand West, with around 83,000 households, every third person is employed in the mining sector. Goldfields has the most employees locally – at almost 10,000 employees – followed by Sibanye. Goldfields has confirmed there will be mining in our city for the next 90 years, so we must plan to maintain the infrastructure the mines depend on, because municipalities depend on the employment of their residents.”

“Our infrastructure master planning must be centralised on improving energy provision, water, and road infrastructure to ensure we maintain the current mining activities,” he said.

“In Rand West we are one of the few municipalities with five mega human settlement projects running concurrently. This will effectively create another city – adding 96,000 more households. So we are investing in terms of our bulk infrastructure linked both to mining activity and to this growth and to mining activity. In line with this, we are embarking on a R1.2bn alternative energy project to supply additional power to our city, as well as increasing the number of substations and transformers.”

He added that Rand West did welcome industrial investment too, with opportunities such as a R4 billion biodigester investment. “We are planning for the future,” Cllr. William Matsheke said.

Beyond extraction

Cllr. Sheila Mabale-Huma, Executive Mayor of the City of Rustenburg, said the city was moving beyond mining dependency to build a solid foundation for a diversified, industrialised economy.

She said: “As Africa’s ‘platinum capital’, mining traditionally accounted for the bulks of our local economy. But this has made the city vulnerable to global market volatility.”

She outlined how the city, with its fast growing population of over 950-thousand residents, was experiencing disruptions to the bulk water supply.

“We are transitioning from a mining-dependant town to a diversified industrial and trade capital using a dual strategy that leverages the mining economy while also expanding other sectors such as agriculture, agro-processing, logistics, manufacturing and education,” she said. “Because water security is foundational to industrial infrastructure, we have expanded our bulk water capacity and are also working to expand our grid capacity.”

After mining ends

Panellists noted that beneficiation and industrialisation were crucial to sustain municipalities after the ore ran out, or when markets changed.
Mzila Mthenjane, CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, said: “We have seen in Welkom and Carletonville how the unplanned closure of mines can be devastating. We can avoid that in future. Mining companies need to work with the government and civil society to plan to support future livelihoods well in advance of mines closing. It should be introduced in the planning of a new mine too.”

Musa Jack, Municipal Capacity Development Principal at Anglo American, highlighted

Anglo American’s support of Northern Cape municipalities – Gamagara and Tsantsabane – through the Municipal Capability and Partnership Programme (MCPP), in partnership with the CSIR South Africa and the Northern Cape Office of the Premier.

The initiative builds mine-municipal compacts, strengthens local governance, upgrades infrastructure, and drives economic diversification for a sustainable post-mining future.

Jack said: “The issue of beneficiation becomes very pertinent in municipalities where mines are about to close. In Gamagara and Tsantsabane, 8 of the 15 mines face closure in the next few years. In 2023, the MCPP helped them do a thorough analysis of the impact of the closures. We found that the closure of just four of the mines could result in the loss of 38,000 direct jobs and up to 90,000 jobs in the national value chain. This isn’t a municipal problem or a Northern Cape problem – it’s a national problem that needs all stakeholders to come together to address it.”

She said an economic transition compact was mobilising all stakeholders to develop an economic transition strategy for the region.

“We helped them identify enablers for this transition, and their most critical one is infrastructure development,” Jack said. “The region’s bulk infrastructure development backlogs are a deterrent to investors, so they are now moving towards the activation of bulk infrastructure projects. A lot of effort and funding needs to go into this, and the government needs to come aboard to support them.”

Building beneficiation capacity

On the question of what it would take for mining companies to establish processing facilities closer to the source rather than exporting raw materials, Prof. Oliver Saasa, Board Director of TDB Infrastructure Investment Management Company, said:

“We sometimes look at money as the solution. I believe it’s not just about money. With the right mindset and focus, money will follow. This is where the human resource base becomes fundamental. It begins with training. Often, we are not training for the market and the knowledge that is needed in the workplace.”

Prof. Saasa said: “Across the African continent, we see interventions at national and regional level to create a hospitable environment that provides for the sort of investment that is needed for beneficiation. Africa is often seen as a poor ‘Cinderella ‘ continent. But Africa is a rich continent with poor people in it. Africa is a net exporter of minerals yet the people of the continent are defined as poor. How have we invited investors with deep pockets to tap those resources, and how have we empowered human resources on the continent to exploit the resources and make a difference to the GDP? How and to what extent have we as a continent invested prudently, given potential investors the ability to access the resources and development financing they need to make a difference?”

Mzila Mthenjane added:

“The conversation on beneficiation is not new. The response is often that we need infrastructure. But we don’t talk enough about the leadership infrastructure required. Our vision is that the mining industry will grow on the back of skilled and educated people, creating a multiplier effect that will cascade through the economy.”