1. Future of Private Sector Funding for RDI in Mining
Sietse van der Woude, Senior Exec: Modernisation and Safety
Minerals Council SA (ex-Chamber of Mines)
1 June 2018

2. Why is urgent RDI needed in mining?
The ‘do nothing’ scenario…
Do nothing
Do nothing
… could affect 200,000 jobs and 2 million livelihoods in next decade

3. Mining RDI Investment: From Neglect to Wake-Up to …?
CSIR Mining Researchers

4. Business Expenditure on R&D (BERD) and Business Confidence
BERD tracks business confidence albeit with a temporal lag…

5. South Africa lags RDI of comparator countries e.g…..

6. Key Government RDI Incentive Programmes
Government has many incentive programmes to support innovation - most are not well funded
Key government incentives for RDI:
DTI grant programmes over R5 billion per annum of which less than R250 million (5%) on RDI
No programmes to support collaborative research or industry-wide research
Programme
Approximate Annual Budget
Administering Department
Support for Industrial Innovation (SPII)
R70 million
DTI
Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP)
R150 million
Technology Innovation Agency (TIA)
R400 million
DST
Section 11D Tax Incentive
Not Applicable

7. Take-aways… Mining companies are committed to RDI
Government can assist by creating an environment that strengthens business confidence
Government should promote counter-cyclical support for cyclical industries like mining by:
Scaling up RDI Benefits: Budgets quite small relative to comparators
Re-design RDI support programmes to:
Promote collaboration within mining cluster
Promote longer-term research programmes within mining
Re-look at tax incentive to cater for re-funds for profit negative SME’s and distressed sectors
Improve efficiency: Programmes administered by persons who understand mining and its future role in society