In a ritual that is becoming increasingly detached from reality, South Africa will try to sell itself as an attractive destination for capital at its annual ‘Investment Conference’ in Sandton on Thursday. It is a theatre of the absurd.
Diversified metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater lost more than R1bn in production last year to copper cable theft, a Platinum Group Metals conference heard on Tuesday. That speaks to a surging crime problem that is literally robbing the mining sector of profits. Interestingly, the rise in crimin.
When outgoing Eskom Group Chief Executive Andre de Ruyter initially reported the attempt on his life by poisoning, the police sent a pair of keystone cops to start the investigation. He was not impressed.
Mining companies and even black-owned contractors say they are increasingly confronting syndicates that incite local communities to disrupt operations.