JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified mining and marketing major Glencore is building a R17-million clinic in the Mpumalanga coalfields as part of its social and labour plan (SLP) commitment to South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources.

Earlier this year, the London-, Hong-Kong- and Johannesburg-listed company also opened a R75-million school for 1 200 pupils near its Tweefontein coal mine in Mpumalanga as part of its SLP obligations and provided R2.76-million for a video mentoring facility for learners in the province, where it has a number of coal operations.

The new clinic, being built in partnership with the provincial health department and private wellness organisation Re-Action, will replace an old one burnt down during a service delivery protest in the area.

It will provide dental, maternity, emergency, pharmaceutical and radiology services to the community of Kwazamokuhle, which is situated near Hendrina, where State power utility Eskom has a coal-fired power station.

Until then, a mobile facility will provide interim health services to the 200 000-plus people of the area.

“Over the years, we’ve built and renovated seven health care facilities in Mpumalanga. This investment in our people has contributed to the fight against HIV/Aids, TB and diabetes,” Glencore Coal South Africa COO Murray Houston commented in a media release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online.

Mpumalanga Health MEC Gillion Mashego said that the provincial health department would ensure that there were sufficient medical staff at the new clinic to prevent people having to wait for prolonged periods to receive medical attention.

“We need companies like Glencore to assist us in our quest to provide better healthcare,” he added.

The 181 000-employee Glencore produces and trades 90-plus commodities from 150 mining and metallurgical sites, oil production assets and agricultural facilities in more than 50 countries.