THE STRATEGIC COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINING INDUSTRY IN THE AGE OF THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Abstract

The South African mining industry has a history of a range of major challenges, including high operating costs that have had a negative impact on mines’ profitability and financial sustainability. The advent of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies has opened up new opportunities for the mining industry, among other things, to improve its cost-effectiveness and future competitiveness. Most South African mining companies have begun to adopt Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies; however, quite a large number of their projects have not been successful. The main objective of the paper is to conduct an integrative literature review to determine why some of the companies in the minerals, mining, and processing industry have not been successful in implementing Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. The findings of the study outline areas of organisational and technological capability on which the industry could focus when developing future innovation strategies.