South Africa Mining Faces Development Opportunities Brought By The New Industrial Revolution

According to Mining Weekly, a foreign media quoted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, South Africa's mining industry, which is currently in a difficult period, has different reactions to future mining development and the fourth industrial revolution. However, whether it is rejection or adaption, slow action will cause immeasurable losses to South Africa, which will bring disaster to South Africa's economy, mining cities and related industries.

It is against the background of falling commodity prices, difficulties in employing worker, changing regulatory systems, rising operating costs and changing international policies that the Fourth Industrial Revolution emerged in South Africa.

Although the potential unemployment caused by automation and redevelopment has created unease, supporters believe that this is overreaction, and in most cases the fourth industrial revolution follows the path of previous success.

Mr. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, pointed out that the Fourth Industrial Revolution had broken the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological field, and that the speed of technological development had exceeded any period in history. It had a tremendous impact on all walks of life in all countries and had completely changed the whole production and management systems.

DDT believes that this is particularly important. Increasing operating costs, complex ore bodies and deeper mining have forces mining companies to change their mindset and think about how to operate quickly and accurately to deal with future risks, major challenges and unknown business.

Valter Adao, director of Deloitte Digital and Innovation Research, said that as automation replaces labor, some jobs will become redundant,so workers need to master new skills and have to undergo retraining. In the long run, however, short-term pain will be smoothed by the long term benefits of automation. Therefore, there is no need to worry about this change, because this is the normal process of work evolution and maturity. The previous industrial revolution created new employment opportunities and created new markets and industries.

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, argues that there is no need to worry about the industrial revolution because it improves people's living standards, creates new jobs, improves productivity and provides effective public services.

Vuyani Jarana, chief executive of South African Airlines, agreed. He believed that the fourth industrial revolution had brought important opportunities for South Africa's development and should seize the opportunity. If time was delayed, the consequences would be very serious.