SPECIAL ARTICLES

The Joburg Indaba

Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American joins an esteemed group of mining and investor heavyweights as the keynote speaker at the 2014 Joburg Indaba in October.

Cutifani, with more than 38 years in the mining industry, has working experience in 25 operating environments and with 20 commodities and is widely recognized as an industry innovator.

The Joburg Indaba is aimed at building a competitive, sustainable, and legitimate mining industry through strategic conversations. 'Mark's broad industry, technical, and commercial knowledge is a prime example of the calibre of speakers joining the critical conversations at this year's event' states Bernard Swanepoel, moderator at the 2014 Indaba.

Opportunities and solutions that could outline the route to a competitive and sustainable mining industry will be thrashed out at this year's event amongst various leaders, game-changers, and entrepreneurs in both the mining and investment sectors.

Robert Friedland will be back again to join colleagues in thought-provoking discussions alongside Graham Briggs, Valli Moosa, Mike Teke, Noah Greenhill, Peter Leon, Michael Spicer, and many others.

If anything, discussions from the inaugural event were open, honest, and outright blunt. The vast majority (91%) of attendees citied that a strong, supportive, and visible political leadership of the mining sector was vital, while concerns were voiced on current regulatory issues, and the dire need for local government to clearly state its position on mining as SA's economic driver. Special focus will be given at this year's event to the labour issues that have crippled the industry and the challenging trade-offs between cost, productivity, and unemployment, highlighted by the mechanization versus labour debate.

The majority of the attendees recognized that the industry needs to fundamentally change direction in order to prosper. To join the conversation on 8-10 October 2014, visit www.joburgindaba.com <http://www.joburgindaba.com>

A. Spratley