100,000 new jobs by 2035: Mining sector aims to add R65bn to SA’s GDP

Workers are seen underground at a mine near Pretoria. Image credit: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

“Mining is our country’s largest source of export earnings, R814bn in 2025, and it is a major source of investment and employment,” said Dunne.

“Yet despite South Africa’s extraordinary mineral endowment, world-class mining expertise and long-established industrial capability, the sector has not performed at a level consistent with that potential,” he added.

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Unlocking mineral wealth

Dunne said the MCSA’s strategy aims to build an evidence-based understanding of the factors constraining mining investment and growth, so the sector’s contribution to the South African economy can be improved.

While the sector has much promise, Dunne cautioned that its biggest hindrance is the broader operating and regulatory environment, which can block investment and limit conversion of that opportunity into growth.

“That distinction is important because investment decisions are shaped by far more than resource endowment.

“The quality of infrastructure, the efficiency of permitting systems, the predictability of regulatory frameworks, the reliability of energy supply and the effectiveness of public institutions create the conditions necessary for capital-intensive investments,” said Dunne.

Dunne added that many constraints affecting mining growth are systemic and beyond the direct control of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR), so progress in one area may not unlock investment if bottlenecks remain elsewhere.

“The implication is clear: even substantial progress within a single institution may fail to unlock investment if bottlenecks remain elsewhere in the system,” he explained.

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Workstreams with DMPR

This is why the MCSA believes that the government-business partnership is such a critically important development for the sector.

According to Dunne, the strategy identified barriers that span multiple institutional boundaries and showed that many of the most significant growth constraints cannot be resolved through traditional advocacy channels or bilateral engagement alone, so broader coordination is needed.

Therefore, the MCSA and the DMPR have agreed on three mining workstreams, which are:

• The first is focused on administrative bottlenecks affecting mining projects, to unlock more than R50bn in capital expenditure by February 2028. These opportunities are identified within existing company portfolios, including new investments and projects that can expand current operations and extend mine lives.

• The second workstream will address competitiveness gaps and a clear understanding of the reforms required to strengthen South Africa’s position as a mining destination. Mining jurisdictions increasingly compete on institutional performance, administrative efficiency, and the quality of their investment environment.

• The third workstream supports the DMPR’s national implementation of a transparent and efficient national mining cadastre by March 2027. This is widely recognised as a fundamental requirement for a competitive exploration environment and a tool for administering mineral rights.

“The partnership provides a constructive mechanism to align government departments, regulators, state-owned entities and the private sector around a clearly defined set of priorities with measurable and tangible outcomes. It is clear that we need a whole-of-government approach,” said Dunne.

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Ensuring success

In conclusion, Dunne said the country’s mineral wealth remains one of its greatest economic advantages.

Turning that wealth into higher investment, stronger exports, improved competitiveness and greater employment depends less on the quality of the resources and more on the effectiveness of the systems that surround them.

“Success will ultimately be measured by whether those efforts result in a larger, competitive and more investment-attractive mining sector capable of contributing meaningfully to South Africa’s growth ambitions, long-term prosperity and societal well-being,” he said.

“I give you the commitment today that the Minerals Council will do all in its power to make our sector attractive to investors and to put it on a sustainable growth trajectory,” he promised in closing.