Bafana Phalane to present vision for Zama Zama legalisation at global development conference in Italy

In November 2025, Bafana Phalane will be the first South African to speak at the 8th International Conference on the Right to Development in Siena, Italy. The University of Siena Conference on the Right to Development is a recognized platform that brings together scholars, policymakers, and activists to explore how nations can achieve equitable and sustainable progress. The 2025 edition focuses on advancing global solidarity in the face of environmental and economic inequality. At this gathering, Phalane will outline how South Africa’s mining sector can become a central pillar for economic growth and job creation, with a specific emphasis on the urgent need to legalise and regulate artisanal miners, known locally as Zama Zamas. These informal miners operate in hazardous conditions in abandoned or disused shafts, often at great personal risk, yet their continued presence is clear evidence that valuable mineral deposits remain underground. Phalane argues that the government must urgently bring this sector into the formal economy by legalising and legislating artisanal mining. “Obviously there is something under the earth, that’s why thousands of young men are there,” he says. “So we must legislate it.”

Phalane, a Public Policy Specialist, believes that South Africa’s mineral wealth offers an unmatched opportunity to solve some of the country’s most pressing problems. “Mining can be the job maker for the next 100 years,” he states. “We have something the world does not have minerals. If managed and marketed correctly, mining can change our futures.” South Africa sits on vast deposits of platinum, gold, manganese, lithium, cobalt, and other critical minerals essential to global industry and the green energy transition. 

Phalane describes this as a form of ongoing economic defrauding. “The West has defrauded us of our minerals for decades,” he explains. “They take our resources, process them elsewhere, and reap the benefits while we remain stuck with poverty and unemployment.” This historic imbalance, he says, must be addressed if South Africa is to chart a new development path. The solution lies in combining beneficiation, artisanal mining formalisation, and ethical governance to transform the mining sector into a foundation for inclusive industrialisation and job creation.

Central to Phalane’s vision is beneficiation, the process of adding value to minerals within South Africa before they are exported. This includes refining and processing raw materials to produce semi finished or finished products locally. “Beneficiation is not optional; it is an economic necessity,” he says. “If we keep exporting raw minerals, we keep exporting jobs and economic opportunity.” Phalane says beneficiation can stimulate manufacturing industries, create skilled employment opportunities, and expand South Africa’s participation in global value chains. It reduces dependency on volatile raw commodity prices and fosters innovation and infrastructure development.

He also stresses that mining must be environmentally sustainable and socially just. “The mining sector must uplift the communities where it operates,” he says. “Mining cannot be an extractive process that leaves behind destruction and poverty.”

Phalane’s call for the legalisation and regulation of Zama Zamas forms a critical pillar of his argument. Artisanal miners extract minerals informally and often dangerously in abandoned shafts. “We cannot continue to criminalise Zama Zamas while they mine beneath our feet,” he insists. “Legalising and regulating artisanal mining will protect lives, bring order, and unlock economic potential.”

Legalising and regulating this sector will also open new revenue streams for the state through taxes and royalties. It will enable miners to receive technical training and access capital, increasing productivity and safety. More importantly, it can empower mining communities by integrating them into the formal economy, providing sustainable livelihoods, and reducing crime related to illegal mining.

Drawing from his theological background, Phalane frames the issue of mining not only as an economic concern but also as a moral and ethical one. He advocates for a new global partnership model rooted in justice, where Africa’s mineral wealth is a source of empowerment rather than exploitation. “Sustainability requires justice and accountability,” he says. “Africa must be a partner, not a victim, in the global green economy.”

Phalane’s presentation in Siena will challenge global stakeholders to recognise South Africa’s right to benefit fairly from its resources and to support policies that foster inclusive, sustainable development. His message is clear: South Africa’s mining sector has the potential to become the cornerstone of economic renewal and job creation for generations, but only if it is governed transparently, inclusively, and ethically.

Phalane believes that mining, properly managed, is South Africa’s key to unlocking economic potential and addressing unemployment. “We have the minerals,” he says. “The question is whether we have the courage and vision to manage them for the benefit of our people. Legalising Zama Zamas and prioritising beneficiation are vital steps in that direction. Our mineral wealth can be a source of jobs, innovation, and community development for the next century if only we act decisively now.”