As well as relieving the burden of social security contributions, tax policy2, in particular, is faced with the task of lowering the high marginal tax rates in order to improve the incentives for labour supply, labour demand and capital formation.
For all mining sectorscombined, the share in the total value added to the economy receded from 9,5 per cent in 1994 to 7,3 per cent last year. More recently, Chamber of Mines data indicate that South African gold production in the second quarter of 2005 fell by 2,4 per cent from the first quarter and by 18 per cent year-on-year.