This will impact mineworkers and people that rely on servicing the mining industry the most, he said, adding that the expected decline in production will also lead to retrenchments.<\/p>\n
Multinational mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said it often has to reduce its electricity demand because of load shedding, and this, in turn, affects production over time. The company has, however, put mid-term measures in place to mitigate the effects of load shedding.<\/p>\n
James Wellsted, the executive vice president of investor relations at Sibanye-Stillwater, said that the company has agreed on protocols to implement when needed.<\/p>\n
Wellsted said this includes plans to reduce electricity demand by between 10% and 15%, enabling the company to operate through this period. However, he warned that, over an extended period, power shortages will inevitably impact production.<\/p>\n
He said that although Sibanye-Stillwater has signed an agreement with Eskom related to its mainline operations, the company is forced to pause other production areas as stages of load-shedding escalate.<\/p>\n
Decrease in contributions and growth<\/strong><\/p>\n Mining is one of the biggest contributors to South Africa’s gross domestic product, accounting for almost 9% of GDP in 2021.<\/p>\n In 2021 the direct contribution to GDP from the industry grew by 36% to R481 billion (2020: R353 billion), and the percentage contribution of mining to the economy improved to 8.7% from 7.1% the year before, according to the Mineral Resources Council.<\/p>\n According to Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), at the end of March 2022, the mining industry employed 459,000<\/a> people and marked the second most significant quarter-on-quarter increase of 2% in employment behind the business services industry.<\/p>\n Despite the increase in employment, the industry’s contribution to growth in South Africa’s GDP recorded a decline of\u00a0 0.1 percentage points.<\/p>\n The mining and quarrying industry and the construction industry were the only two sectors out of South Africa’s most economically productive that showed negative growth rates over Q1\/2022, with the mining sector reporting a 1.1% decrease in economic activity.<\/p>\n This follows the mining industry having the highest growth rate<\/a> over last year (11.8%).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screenshot-2022-07-04-085329-e1656917675554.png\")
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