Mining has long been a cornerstone of South Africa’s economy. The Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) is tasked with ensuring that the sector remains a source of decent employment while adapting to global shifts in technology, sustainability, and labour practices.

The sector stands at a crossroads. Mechanisation and automation are changing the very nature of mining. Machines can now perform work that once employed thousands of people underground. This raises the critical question, how can mechanisation create new skilled jobs in engineering, maintenance, and digital operations rather than simply displacing workers?

Youth and women remain underrepresented in the sector. Expanding their participation is not only an equity imperative but also a source of innovation and resilience. What policies and training models can help young people and women access opportunities across the mining value chain, from exploration to beneficiation?

Retrenchments remain a painful reality as mines close or restructure in response to global commodity trends. Workers who lose jobs in mining towns often face long-term unemployment. How can they be absorbed into related value chains such as renewable energy, logistics, or community-based enterprises? This is one of the sector’s greatest strategic questions.

The MQA’s work, aligned to the National Skills Development Plan 2030, is to prepare South Africa for a mining future that is both competitive and just. For Career Indaba® Times, the real test is whether mining can continue to generate opportunity while avoiding the mistakes of the past of deepening inequality, dependence, and exclusion. The challenge now is to shape a future where mining skills serve the economy broadly, not narrowly.