Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane should never have been allowed to open last week's Mining Indaba, says Chamber of Mines deputy president and CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater Neal Froneman. Foreign investors were looking forward to seeing "the new face of South Africa" that Cyril Ramaphosa had announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Instead they got a man facing possible criminal charges for state capture who is blamed for all but destroying the industry. The indaba attracts investors from around the world. "It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the changes in South Africa and improve perceptions, and we didn't use it," says Froneman. "It was a huge missed opportunity." Allowing Zwane to give the keynote address sent the same confusing signals to potential investors as would a state of the nation address by President Jacob Zuma. Froneman says it is difficult to overstate the damage Zwane has done to the industry. "It has been tremendous. The launch of the Mining Char...
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