– Long-term outlook –
Unemployment in South Africa already stands at more than 25 percent, with the number rising to nearly 35 percent when those who have given up looking for work are included.
Zwane also suggested that mining companies had not taken advantage of the commodities boom to prepare for the bad times.
But critics say strikes, interrupted power supplies, a mining code in limbo and disputes over compulsory black shareholdings have hurt investor confidence in the country.
Governments and investors throughout Africa have struggled for years over the distribution of the mineral wealth buried under much of the continent, which remains the poorest in the world.
The debate about how its raw materials should be exploited – and for whose benefit – has gained renewed fervor with the fall in commodity prices.
Rio Tinto chief executive for diamonds and minerals, Alan Davies, said that despite the tough economic conditions he remains “convinced that the extractive industry in Africa can serve as a powerful catalyst for broad-based economic transformation and long-term growth.”
But, he told the conference, this needed partnerships between companies and governments, investment certainty and infrastructure development.
While China’s downturn, along with an oversupply of minerals, is widely blamed for the crash in commodity prices, some still see its interest and investment in Africa as positive.
“With China coming in on the mineral and other sectors, this will change the kind of opportunities that are available to African governments and African businessmen,” said Sheila Khama, director of the Africa Natural Resources Center at the African Development Bank.
“You now have an additional player to traditional investors from the United States and Europe. I think this is good for Africa,” she told AFP.
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