MHSC ANNUAL REPORT 2020

MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY COUNCIL ▪ ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Corporate governance embodies processes and systems by which public entities are directed, controlled, and held to account. In addition to legislative requirements based on a public entity’s enabling legislation, and the Companies Act, corporate governance with regard to public entities is applied through the precepts of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and run in tandem with the principles contained in the King’s Report on Corporate Governance. Parliament, the Executive, and the Accounting Authority of the public entity are responsible for corporate governance.

3.2 PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES

The MHSC met with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee (Committee) on the 30th of August 2019 for the PPC Oversight Visit. The purpose of the meeting was to provide the new committee members with an overview of the MHSC. The second engagement with the PPC was held on the 8th of October 2019 for the presentation and discussion of the Annual Report 2018/19. The MHSC has faced major risks during this year, which has been mitigated in line with the MHSC Risk Management Policy and Strategy. The major risks included the following areas: (a) Contract Management – the MHSC appointed on a contract basis to assist in the building of capacity within the Contract Management Unit. The position has since been incorporated into the MHSC organisational structure and a permanent resource is in the process of recruitment. (b) MHSC has started to see a decline in its financial sustainability due to the reduction in the surplus. The financial sustainability is further threatened by the decline in the economy, and inevitably the decline profits in the SAMI. COVID 19 has also impacted the collection outlook of the levies due to the closure in compliance to Section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act. The MHSC has developed a revenue strategy with the aim of identifying potential partners to partner and collaborate with, in the fulfilment of its mandate. The MHSC has also reviewed its Annual Performance Plan 2020/21 and Strategy 2020-2024 considering the levy collection. (c) Compliance – MHSC was requested to improve its level of compliance and to also ensure there is adequate capacity to support and strengthen compliance. Management indicated that the plans were underway and that a resource has been employed in the position of the Compliance Officer. PPC further requested the MHSC to expedite the processes to establish the Social and Ethics Committee and ensure it is adequately capacitated.

3.3 EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY

The MHSC Communication and Engagement Framework with the Ministry (Minister and Deputy Minister) was approved by Council in July 2019. During the fourth quarter, Council engaged with the Minister in the release of the statistics. A Principals meeting was held where a press release was published by the Chief Inspector on the OHS performance for the year January to December 2019. The MHSC developed Guiding Principles for the management of COVID 19 in the Mining Sector during March 2020. The Minister issued a directive for mines to comply with the guidelines. The Council’s key purpose “is to ensure the MHSC’s prosperity by collectively directing the MHSC’s affairs, while meeting the interests of its stakeholders. The Council achieves this role through the law, relevant regulations, and

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“EVERY MINE WORKER RETURNING FROM WORK UNHARMED EVERYDAY”