[SPEECH] Speaking Notes by the Honourable Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Mr Gwede Mantashe at South Africa Country Window Workshop and Launch
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It is a great pleasure to welcome the delegation from the European Union and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to South Africa - a preferred destination for mining investment and a country endowed with proven world-class mineral resources. Our gathering today takes place at a defining moment in the reconfiguration of global economic and strategic partnerships.
Speaking Notes by the Honourable Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Mr Gwede Mantashe at South Africa Country Window Workshop and Launch
Fairview Hotel in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province
07 July 2026
Programme Director,
Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Ms Phumzile Mgcina
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands, H.E. Joanne Doornewaard,
MEC of Economic Development, Mr Tshitereke Matibe
Executive Mayors,
CEO of CGS, Mr Mosa Mabuza and your executive team,
Director Geological Survey of the Netherlands, Ms Tirza van Daalen,
Distinguished Guests,
It is a great pleasure to welcome the delegation from the European Union and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to South Africa - a preferred destination for mining investment and a country endowed with proven world-class mineral resources.
Our gathering today takes place at a defining moment in the reconfiguration of global economic and strategic partnerships.
Demand for critical minerals continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, driven by rapid technological advancement, industrial innovation, digitalization, and the global energy transition. At the same time, resource endowed and developing countries are increasingly asserting that their mineral wealth must translate into inclusive economic growth, sustainable development, and prosperity.
For far too long, countries blessed with abundant mineral resources have captured only a fraction of the value generated from those resources. Producer countries have often remained constrained by inadequate investment in mineral exploration, limited geological information, and insufficient mineral value addition.
That model is neither sustainable nor acceptable.
It is for this reason that the South Africa Country Window Workshop and Launch comes at an opportune moment.
This initiative gives practical expression to the agreements reached between South Africa and the European Union during South Africa’s G20 Presidency. Today’s launch demonstrates our shared commitment to deepening cooperation in a manner that advances the interests of our nations.
As a sovereign state, South Africa values this partnership because it represents a structured intervention aimed at strengthening shared geological knowledge, supporting mineral exploration, promoting responsible investment, and expanding opportunities across the minerals value chain.
The Council for Geoscience (CGS), as South Africa’s custodian of all geoscience information and knowledge, both onshore and offshore, will play a central role in implementing this partnership alongside the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (TNO).
Consistent with the aspirations of the G20 South Africa Leader’s Declaration, this collaboration places strong emphasis on comprehensive geological mapping and characterisation of critical minerals.
This is important because it will unlock investment in mineral exploration, drive sustainable and equitable development.
Reliable geological data is the foundation upon which exploration investment is built, and new mines are constructed. We are mindful of the fact that without quality geoscientific information, investment remains speculative. With it, investment becomes more certain, exploration expands, new discoveries increase, and economic opportunities multiply.
Through this partnership, we are, therefore, investing not just in maps, but in the future of South Africa’s mining industry.
It is, therefore, fitting that this partnership is being launched here in Limpopo Province.
This province possess one of the most diverse mineral endowments in the country, including platinum group metals, chromium, vanadium, titanium, nickel, cobalt, copper, iron ore, coal, uranium, gold, and rare earth elements.
Together with the Northern Cape and North West provinces, Limpopo forms part of what we regard as South Africa’s future mining corridor.
Although mining has been conducted in these provinces for well over a century, significant areas remain underexplored. This presents enormous opportunities for new discoveries and future investment.
For this reason, we remain convinced that South Africa’s mining industry is not a sunset industry, but a sunrise industry with enormous untapped potential.
We are, therefore, confident that the investments arising from this partnership will generate tangible benefits for both South Africa and our international partners.
Equally important is the partnership’s emphasis on local beneficiation, industrial development, innovation, and technology transfer. These are essential if mineral wealth is to translate into sustainable economic development.
For far too long, South Africa’s mining industry largely followed a pit-to-port approach to mining, thus exporting raw minerals while much of the value creation occurred elsewhere.
That approach cannot continue if we are serious about industrialization, job creation, poverty eradication, and economic transformation.
We must be unequivocal that the critical minerals found beneath our soil must become catalysts for local mineral processing, skills development, enterprise growth, and broad-based economic development.
This partnership must, therefore, represent a strategic convergence of interests of both parties.
We appreciate that the EU seeks secure, diversified, and sustainable supplies of critical minerals. However, this must support South Africa’s drive for greater exploration investment and local beneficiation.
These objectives are not mutually exclusive. They are complementary.
As we deepen this cooperation, we must always safeguard South Africa’s resource sovereignty and ensure that our mineral wealth contributes meaningfully to the development of our own people.
Our support for this partnership is, therefore, guided by a clear policy objective to unlock mineral exploration, strengthen geological capability, promote investment, and reposition South Africa from being primarily an exporter of raw minerals to becoming a globally competitive participant in mineral value chains.
In closing, I wish to express our appreciation to the European Union, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Geological Survey of the Netherlands, and the Council for Geoscience for the work that has brought us to this important milestone.
We look forward to a partnership founded on mutual respect, shared prosperity, technological cooperation, and long-term strategic collaboration.
Together, let us ensure that South Africa’s mineral wealth contributes not only to global supply chains but also to the economic advancement of our people.
I thank you.