Modern Quarrying Q2 2019

INDUSTRY NEWS

Aspasa protects surface miners’ rights

With profits under pressure as a result of continuously onerous compliance issues and other challenges, it is increasingly beneficial to become a member of Aspasa, a surface mining association that has the best interests of its members and the indus- try at heart. Aspasa director, Nico Pienaar says there are 12 overarching services within Aspasa that the association wants to highlight. “Technological advances are at the forefront of innovation, especially in transport with Trackless Mobile Machinery (TMM), Proximity Detection Systems (PDS) and regulations relating to road transport in general. New members will be brought up to speed on trackless mobile machines regarding risk assessment, the implementation of effective controls, traffic management and colli- sion avoidance technology requirements,” says Pienaar. “Proper risk assessments and Traffic Management Plans (which should actually be already in place) outweigh the cost of Section 54 stoppage,” says Pienaar, adding that fitting PDS systems are not yet fully functional, but several systems are being tested by Aspasa and suppliers to stay up to date with latest technology. “Secondly, Aspasa helps members technically, in terms of the quality of the aggre- gate mined and the final product sold, as well as information related to the production process. In essence, a mine should have a quality management programme in place which can be audited regularly. Aspasa has developed such a programme with links to relevant methods, standards and specifications,” adds Pienaar. Checklists show the member how to implement the programme, especially proce- dures for sampling and testing and then the reporting and communicating of a quality product delivered to your customer. “Engineering is another service covered by Aspasa which should be of enormous importance to members as it gives advice on how changes to the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996 impacts on engineering research and development. Aspasa has taken up the development of engineering career paths in surface mines and has a committee that deals with it.

Nico Pienaar, director of Aspasa.

“Of vital importance to members and therefore to the industry as a whole is Aspasa’s liaison with government. An allied service is to ensure its members are legally compliant. The association’s liaison with government is evident in the stakeholders’ submission to the Mining Occupational Health & Safety Research Programme. . l

Calling for urgent government intervention to save the construction industry

matter remains unresolved. “The decline has reached a very concerning level, so much that it is no longer a sectoral prob- lem but a national crisis. We appeal to the government to open up to the indus- try and urgently find concomitant solu- tions to save it from a total collapse”. He, however, acknowledges that there are other factors instrumental to the demise of the industry. These include a sluggish economy, reduction in ‘actual’ infrastructure spending by the govern- ment, as well as illegal and often violent work-stoppages at construction sites by various illegal forums. The adverse impact of these company closures are severe, he notes. “The short-term effect is that direct employ- ees of these collapsed companies lose their jobs. When you consider that the construction industry employs more than 11% of the workforce in South Africa, the negative impact on the economy as a whole is dire. There is also a knock-on effect across the industry because

Master Builders South Africa is calling for urgent government intervention to prevent further destruction of the construction industry in the country. The call follows Group Five’s filing for bank- ruptcy protection in March this year, the fifth major construction company to do so in less than a year. Roy Mnisi, executive director of Master Builders has expressed deep concern on the matter. “This is the fifth large firm to succumb in less than a year. In 2018 alone, NMC Construction went into vol- untary liquidation while Basil Read, Esor Construction and Liviero Group applied for business rescue. We still have many other small-medium sized firms facing financial difficulties and yet, there has not been any government-industry engagement to develop a plan to halt the trend.” According to Mnisi, the industry has continually engaged government on the adverse impact of late/non-payment of contractors for work completed but the

Roy Mnisi, executive director of Master Builders South Africa.

subcontractors, suppliers and service providers are equally affected.”

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MODERN QUARRYING QUARTER 2 - 2019