INSIGHT
Introducing IQSA’s new chairman
By Eamonn Ryan
At the 2019 Institute of
Quarrying annual conference
held in April, Lazarus Meko, PPC
Manager: Mining Operations,
stepped up to the rotating
two-year-term chairmanship of
the organisation, having been
on the board for approximately
seven years, as well as vice-
chairman.
“
regulations will only become feasible through
sustained usage by members (or it will not
be financially viable) and so September will
be a pitch to persuade members to sign up,
whereafter it can proceed to alignment with
the local NQF format.
“IQSA’s secondary focus is primarily
about networking with suppliers, so the
focus of my term (in addition to the
qualification) will be to bring in high
quality papers and conferences that will
interest and upskill our members, while
encouraging continuous development on
how to do their jobs better. We will also
be looking at diversity in our board and
membership by encouraging membership
by women and youth, and advancing them
into leadership positions,” he says.
Meko has more than 26 years’ experience
in mining, of which 16 years was in energy
coal and 11 in cement. He has been in
leadership positions for the last 27 years,
starting from the section miner, shift-
boss, drill and blast technician, planning
foreman, mine overseer, mining manager,
regional mining manager, group operations
manager and mining operations specialist.
He has rich mine operations experience
and familiarity with relevant mining
legislation. “I am passionate about people,
truly believing that the people make the
difference. I believe in world-class principles
and I implement them at every opportunity
I have in the operations,” says Meko.
I come in at an interesting time, it
being IQSA’s 50th anniversary, but
also a challenging time due to the
difficulties facing our economy. We’ve
seen a decline in growth of our industry
over the past two years, under-performing
even the country’s sluggish growth rate. Yet,
government is forwarding a much more
positive message since the May election
and there is talk of boosting infrastructure
spending – which directly affects our sector.
There is also greater certainty regarding the
Mining Charter. We’re not where we want
to be, but there’s more to give hope today,”
says Meko.
He notes that most of the industry alerts
coming from the DMR relate to competence
— which plays directly to the mandate of
IQSA, “which is why they are reviewing
Chapter 2 of Mining Health and Safety”.
The understanding is that DMR will require
quarry managers to have a manager’s
certificate, which most quarries do not have.
A task team has been appointed to look
at how this will be practically implemented,
he explains, by means of classifying mines
according to size to shift away from one-
size-fits-all regulation. “This will be a long
process, and until then there is currently
no legal obligation for a quarry manager
to have any qualification,” he adds. It is
currently in the public comment stage. Yet
IQSA needs to prepare for this eventuality.
Quite apart from regulation, says
Meko, the goal of IQSA is to equip quarry
professionals with the necessary route to
qualification. “Our September conference is
consequently going to rather take the form
of regional road shows to introduce the UK
qualification that was first announced at the
April conference: that it is online and has a
modular approach.”
The success of the qualifications
programme and its ultimate tailoring to local
40_QUARRY SA| JULY/AUGUST 2019
www.quarryonline.co.za