By Lebone Rodah Mosima
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has said South Africa’s critical minerals must be used to build local industries and create economic value at home, as Europe looks to secure new supplies for its energy transition and industrial needs.
Speaking at the South Africa Country Window Workshop and Launch in Tzaneen, Limpopo, on Tuesday, Mantashe said the partnership with the European Union (EU) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands should not repeat an old mining model in which South Africa exports raw minerals while value is created elsewhere.
“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,” Mantashe said.
“That approach cannot continue if we are serious about industrialisation, job creation, poverty eradication, and economic transformation.”
The remarks come as South Africa seeks to position itself in the global race for critical minerals used in batteries, renewable energy technologies, advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure, while facing high unemployment and mounting pressure to turn resource wealth into economic growth.
Statistics South Africa said the country’s official unemployment rate stood at 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026, with youth unemployment significantly higher.
“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,” Mantashe said.
“These objectives are not mutually exclusive. They are complementary.”
The launch forms part of agreements reached between South Africa and the European Union during South Africa’s G20 Presidency. Mantashe said the partnership would support geological mapping, mineral exploration, responsible investment and opportunities across the minerals value chain.
The Council for Geoscience will work with the Geological Survey of the Netherlands on the initiative, with Mantashe saying improved geological data would help reduce risk for investors and support new discoveries.
“Reliable geological data is the foundation upon which exploration investment is built, and new mines are constructed,” he said.
“Without quality geoscientific information, investment remains speculative. With it, investment becomes more certain, exploration expands, new discoveries increase, and economic opportunities multiply.”
Mantashe said the partnership was being launched in Limpopo because of the province’s mineral wealth, including platinum group metals, chromium, vanadium, titanium, nickel, cobalt, copper, iron ore, coal, uranium, gold and rare earth elements.
He said Limpopo, together with the Northern Cape and North West, formed part of South Africa’s “future mining corridor”, adding that large areas remained underexplored despite more than a century of mining.
“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,” he said.
The EU has been seeking to diversify access to critical raw materials as part of its Critical Raw Materials Act, which is aimed at securing sustainable supplies and reducing reliance on single-country sources.
Mantashe said South Africa’s participation in global supply chains had to be balanced against domestic development needs.
“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,” he said.
He said South Africa’s policy objective was to move from being mainly an exporter of raw minerals to becoming “a globally competitive participant in mineral value chains”.
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