South Africa’s mining industry is working with government to reform the civil service into a capable, competent and ethical part of society, with the sector’s infrastructure and community development experience seen as a model for addressing municipal service delivery failures, the Joburg Indaba 2026 conference heard on Wednesday, October 7.

Business Unity South Africa president Mxolisi Mgojo told delegates that the mining sector had long played a significant role in addressing issues impacting communities around mines to ensure its own ability to operate in those municipalities.

“It is not new for mining to be called on to deal with crises. It does not matter who wins the [local government] elections, because we have to work with the incoming administrations,” Mgojo said. “The question, therefore, is: what comes next? How can we lay the foundations to ensure successful municipalities are present in the future?”

Mgojo emphasised that municipalities had to be willing partners committed to improving operations and prepared to make difficult decisions, with support from provincial and national government. “Otherwise, mines’ de facto role in delivering municipal services will be never-ending. The support of mines should be a crutch until the challenges are addressed”.

He said the mining sector’s role should take a structured approach by identifying key projects needed in each community and focusing on delivering those targets. “The role of mining should not be to create dependencies, but should be to support local municipalities by using all available public and private resources to develop skills and capacity. Helping to build capacity in municipalities will be good for business and for mining companies to extricate themselves from being the de facto municipalities in their areas of operation”.

Futurelect founder and CEO Lindiwe Mazibuko, a former politician, predicted that South Africa would have more coalition governments ruling its polities, including local municipalities. She noted that while there are concerns about government inconsistencies under coalitions, there is evidence of unstable local governments even under single-party leadership.

“Coalitions are likely to be more durable if they have a plan of action. Instead of the parties negotiating for positions and departments within a coalition, they should develop a plan for what they want to achieve over the following five years,” Mazibuko recommended. She added that competition for positions and difficult transitions between political administrations had driven away skills and talent from municipalities.

Incoming municipal administrations must publicly commit to a series of priorities collectively, plan how to achieve them, and account for progress, she said.

Impala Platinum chairperson Thandi Orleyn said that regardless of the election outcome, the core concern was the provision of services. “The mining industry needs to engage in an intentional manner; whether the challenge is unskilled municipal personnel or corrupt officials, we need to deal with these issues,” she said.

Business For South Africa chairperson Martin Kingston noted that the government-business partnership was established to deal with the existential crisis facing the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The country learned that leveraging public and private skills and resources coordinated through a focused strategy could make a fundamental difference to outcomes, and helped to save lives and livelihoods,” he said.

Kingston said capacity constraints are acute at municipal and local government level, and that business can provide support and expert skills to local governments with suitable regulatory guardrails. “However, for this to work, we need a willing counterparty to work with that respects the rule of law and has the requisite responsibility, authority and accountability to undertake the work needed”.

He emphasised that the private sector’s role was to provide support and not create a permanent substitute for the State. “We need to ensure the required capabilities are present in local governments, and there must be a pathway from the temporary process now to an effective civil service. Eskom has done an amazing job with support from the former Department and business”.

Mgojo said that for its own good, the mining industry had to play the long game by ensuring it lent support to municipalities in the areas where mining companies operated. The national deficiencies dealt with through the partnership between business and government — including electricity, transport and logistics failures — can be replicated at a local scale to address deficiencies in services in municipalities such as the City of Johannesburg.

The Joburg Indaba 2026 conference, held annually in Johannesburg, brings together mining executives, government officials, investors and civil society to discuss the future of South Africa’s mining industry and its role in national development.