Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica has met with community members in Mokopane to discuss issues surrounding the relocation of communities to make way for the establishment of Anglo Platinum’s (Angloplat’s) Potgietersrust Platinum Limited (PPL) mine.

Ministerial spokesperson Sputnik Ratau tells Mining Weekly that the Minister has also promised to return and meet again with the affected community members from Ga-Pila, Ga-Chaba, Sekuruwe and Mohlotlo on April 2.

The relocation project caused a frenzy in 2008, when nongovernmental organisation ActionAid released a report accusing Angloplat of human rights abuses in its relocation of communities to make way for platinum-mining.

Angloplat dismissed the ActionAid report as “distres-sing, one-sided and inaccurate”, and released its own report, defending its position.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) then investigated the relocation programme and found that mining operations had “adversely affected” the communities.

The world’s leading platinum producer acknowledged that the SAHRC study drew attention to some “potential, hid-den vulnerabilities of communities and residents involved in a complex, multiyear, multimillion-rand relocation project”.

Ratau notes that the SAHRC report, which drew attention to issues such as water, sanitation, grave remov-als and skills transfer, has formed and will continue to form part of the discussions now taking place between stakeholders.

Ratau says that the meeting was well attended with over 150 community members in attendance, and, along with the issues of skills, services and grave relocations, the issues of compensation for relocation and long-term equity were on the agenda.

A task team, initiated by the premier of Limpopo, Sello Moloto, and which includes the Premier’s office, the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), the Department of Land Affairs, the community and the mining houses, dealing with the numerous and complicated issues in the area, has been established and is dealing with the matters continually.

“In the meantine, this inter-action must continue and progress. When the Minister goes back, she wants to see a credible way forward tabled,” adds Ratau.

The DME states that two major issues emerged at the meeting.

The first was that a preferred and representative vehicle, which will look after the inter-ests of the community, be established.

Currently there is a Section 21 company that is supposed to look after the interests of the community, but that Section 21 company itself is a matter of contention. “Because not all of the community is in agreement with who was elected to that company, and what it does on an ongoing basis, there is also suspicion that individuals are benefiting from this,” explains Ratau.

People of the communities will consider other options, and there must be consensus on a representative vehicle, to take the interests of the community forward.

The second major issue is that clear programmes, that speak to the social and labour plans, need to be established, to deal with how developments take place within the community, including skills transfer, because the community is largely farming focused and needs training in order to actively participate in the mining community.

“The different communities have a similar list of gripes, so there is commonality in what needs to be done,” indicates Ratau.

Sonjica is determined to see the DME play a more active role in the matter, and will look at finding “an amicable and beneficial way of taking the 
matter forward as well as ensur-
ing that the communities bene-fit as per the requirements of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, whilst the company (Anglo-plat) will also benefit from the ore that will be found”.

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