The significance of mining backward and forward linkages in reskilling redundant mine workers in South Africa

The South African mining industry employs close to half a million people. Some of the sub-sectors of the mining industry such as gold and platinum mines are regarded as labour intensive and require modernisation. To improve this situation and ensure the long term survival of the industry, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa has drawn up a strategy to modernise mining by embracing automated and autonomous technologies among others. The unintended consequences of these technologies is the reduction in labour, particularly in low skills categories. It is then prudent to reskill the affected mine workers to lessen the dire effects of redundancy. To this effect, this paper analysed mining forward and backward linkages with the aim of identifying the best path with the most absorptive capacity for redundant mine workers. Based on the economic analysis of mining linkages, it was realised that artisanship training is the relevant skill set for redundant workers.