SA minister calls for African geoscientists to be autonomous :: Mmegi Online

Over-dependence on expatriate mineral exploration conglomerates for geological data by African states has been fingered as the cause of exploitation of the continent’s vast mineral resources.

Moreover, the continent’s general underdevelopment is said to be correlated to lack of locally generated geological data, crucial for mineral exploration and investment, South African minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane told throngs of geoscientists in the capital yesterday.

The raspy-voiced Zwane did not mince words at the opening of the 10th Organisation of Africa Geological Survey’s (OAGS) annual general meeting yesterday that attracted continental and international geosciences specialists. He went at length about Africa’s saddening economic status versus the wealth extracted in the continent. He further said this state of affairs has impoverished the continent though endowed with mineral resources. He said the slow pace of socio-economic development and gross exploitation in the mining sector are a result of lack of local expertise to produce geological data and information required for planning in the mining sector.