As artificial intelligence (AI), automation and digital technologies spread through the global mining industry, the sector is being reshaped from the pit face to the boardroom.
Autonomous haulage fleets at companies like Rio Tinto, AI-driven predictive maintenance at BHP and digital twins at major copper mines are already lifting productivity and cutting downtime, while reducing human exposure to dangerous work. In Africa, AI is increasingly seen as a lever for efficiency and safety, but also a technology that must be handled carefully in economies where mining is a major employer. It’s in this tension between innovation, safety, employment and long-term sustainability that Dr Thabo Mashongoane, Chief Executive Officer of the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA), is positioning the organisation.
“The MQA is ensuring that AI is incorporated into its skills development learning programmes and operations,” explains Dr Mashongoane, for whom AI isn’t an abstract buzzword. “AI is transforming the mining sector. It improves safety standards and increases operational efficiency through automation. It also helps monitor hazardous conditions and supports environmental efforts, like managing water usage and reducing energy consumption.”
Under Dr Mashongoane’s leadership, the MQA has been deliberate about making innovation part of its core business, rather than an optional extra. Through their strategic innovation framework the organisation has implemented initiatives such as the Artisan Development and Innovation Hub and are now leveraging technology to enhance skills development. One of the standout elements he highlights is safety-driven innovation, with the MQA having funded innovations for a safer and smarter mining sector.
Such support extends to graduates who are developing new blasting techniques, which remains a critical area in a high-risk environment like mining. In addition, the Digital Learner and Employer Interactive System gives learners and companies a more seamless way to engage with programmes and track progress, while the MQA’s research agenda ranges from green hydrogen skills to reviews of artisan development programmes. Perhaps the clearest expression of this innovation mindset is the collaboration with the Mandela Mining Precinct.
“The MQA is collaborating with the Mandela Mining Precinct to develop an AI tool for assessing the readiness of assessors in the Mining and Minerals Sector,” says the former UNISA graduate. In a sector where the quality of assessors directly shapes the competence of workers, an AI-supported readiness tool is a powerful signal that the MQA is committed to ensuring that technology is embedded all the way down the skills pipeline.
To embed this culture, the organisation has even advertised for an Innovation Manager whose job is to “ensure that innovation is inculcated in the DNA of the organisation and in all employees”.
The MQA’s broad mandate
The MQA is the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) for South Africa’s mining and minerals sector. It is mandated to advance skills, support mine health and safety and drive transformation in the industry.
“The MQA’s role is to bridge the skills gap. We develop and fund learning programmes that align with the sector’s needs. Improving skills in the sector contributes to reduced unemployment and improves productivity,” explains Dr Mashongoane.
Learners move through these pipelines into real jobs or, increasingly, into small businesses and cooperatives, often supported through mine community and youth development programmes.
Over the past five years, the MQA has invested more than R5.4-billion in strategic and learning programmes, including artisan training, work-integrated learning, AET and bursaries. Research and tracer studies follow these beneficiaries into the workplace to measure real-world impact and to feed those insights back into planning. As Dr Mashongoane told delegates at the 2025 Research Colloquium, “research is not a parallel activity but a core driver of impact, innovation and accountability” in MQA’s skills ecosystem.
If Sector Skills Planning sets the direction, Quality Assurance Learner Achievements makes sure that what’s promised is actually delivered through monitoring, assessing and checking up on programs and systems.
In simple terms, this function makes sure that every learner who appears in the numbers has genuinely met the standard—a crucial safeguard in a high-risk sector where poorly trained workers can lead to the loss of life.
Behind the scenes, Corporate Services keeps the institution stable, compliant and credible, but another essential focus of the MQA is on developing and empowering SMMEs.
“The MQA supports SMMEs by funding learning programmes that address skills gaps to improve productivity,” says Dr Mashongoane, who served as director of the Department of Higher Education and Training for over 16 years. “Discretionary grant funding opportunities are available so they can formalise operations and grow. This contributes to alleviating unemployment and gives young people an opportunity to contribute to the economy, but it is essential that they apply for the various discretionary grants when calls for applications go out and they should continue to participate in MQA programmes, including taking on young people and contributing to employment.”
These efforts are backed by community-oriented interventions such as the MQA’s mine community programmes that focus on portable skills. This enables beneficiaries to start micro-enterprises without being dependent on formal jobs, while bursaries and work-experience placements help young people to gain valuable industry work experience.
Not everything is smooth sailing, however, and one of the organisation’s persistent challenges has been securing sufficient work placements to enable the youth to complete their mandatory work experience. Retrenchments and job losses in parts of the sector have also affected the intake of learners.
“Even though there are improvements, more can be done. The internship programme has proven to be valuable; however, more can still be done,” notes Dr Mashongoane with refreshing frankness. In a rapidly changing sector, the MQA has to keep nudging employers to open their doors while, at the same time, designing interventions that remain attractive and relevant to industry players.
After achieving 100% of its targets in 2024/25, the MQA’s goal is not just to repeat the scorecard, but to deepen impact.
“We aspire to maintain this achievement, but our focus in future financial years will be on impact and continuous improvement, ensuring that programmes have real value for the sector,” says Dr Mashongoane.
That impact includes:
Strengthening funding capabilities
Building strategic partnerships with other SETAs, institutions and industry initiatives (such as the Green Hydrogen Centres of Specialisation)
And, crucially, developing future-focused skills linked to AI and digital transformation
“The MQA is excited about a future driven by technological advancements. These advances present opportunities for safety, efficiency in production processes and sustainability in the mining sector. We want to focus on developing future-focused skills, like those related to artificial intelligence, and ensuring clear, supported pathways for all learners to gain competency and certification,” adds Dr Mashongoane.
By blending innovation, governance excellence, sector-wide planning and a human focus on youth, SMMEs and mine communities, the MQA is quietly positioning itself as a FutureSkills hub for an AI-powered mining economy. And, in a world where AI-enabled systems already monitor equipment, optimise ore recovery and enhance safety in mines from the Pilbara to Latin America, the MQA’s message under Dr Mashongoane is clear: South Africa’s mining workforce must not be left behind.
