Mining Indaba: Industry preoccupied with safety issues at plants across SA

The mining industry said it’s preoccupied with safety issues at plants across the country as the annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town continues with talks on the second day.

The four-day meeting of industry leaders, government and investors kicked off on Monday.

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According to the Minerals Council, the mining sector closed 2025 on 41 known fatalities.

This is a new all-time low, compared to the previous year’s 42 fatalities.

The number of fatalities in 2025 came down marginally from the 2024 figures.

Taking a look at a wider period, the Minerals Council said that the industry has reduced fatalities in three decades by 91% from 484 cases in 1994.

In terms of serious injuries, there was a 12% reduction to more than 1,600 from close to 2,000.

In the past 15 years, the council said TB and silicosis cases have reduced by more than 80%, while cases of noise-induced hearing loss in mining have reduced by 55% in that same period.

Chair of the Minerals Council’s Zero Harm Forum and CEO of Glencore Alloys Japie Fullard said while the interventions in place has yielded better results, more still needs to be done.

“The amount of work that we're doing in this area is really paying dividends, if I can call it that. So permanent netting, bolting, early examination, those type of things are the things that we are really driving.”

Among issues the council said still need urgent attention are fall of ground incidents.