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Improved communication urged as demands from near-mine communities become more strident

BUILDING TRUST Businesses cannot succeed in societies that fail, and earning stakeholders’ trust is key to maintaining a mine’s social licence to operate in the communities in which it is located

Photo by USAID

SOCIAL LICENCE Mining companies are very aware of the significant impact that their operations have on local communities and acknowledge the need to earn a social licence to operate

Photo by Duane Daws

ROHITESH DHAWAN Demands of communities and governments increase to such an extent that it is “simply not commercially viable” for mining companies to accede to these demands

KEA MODIMOENG Communities are lobbying mining companies through nongovernmental organisations and their own community networks

NANCY COULSON The role of community relationship practitioners is often ill defined and the department, which they work under varied from company to company

24th July 2015

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Strategic investments in communities should create value for beneficiaries and investors, global advisory firm KPMG climate change and sustainability global mining leader Rohitesh Dhawan said, stating that, if mining companies followed a strategic approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR), they could ensure maximum impact of their social investments.

Dhawan was speaking at the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s Mining, Environment and Society conference, held in Johannesburg, in May.

Mining companies were very aware of the significant impact that their operations had on local communities and acknowledged having to earn a social licence to operate – hence, the spending of “vast sums” of money on social investment initiatives, including infrastructure, education, training and healthcare, as well as sports and recreation programmes.

Dhawan stated that businesses could not succeed in societies that failed, and earning stakeholders’ trust was key to maintaining a mine’s social licence to operate in the communities in which it was located.

“Therefore, it is very important that a shared vision of a future that brings social progress and opportunities for all is developed by the mine’s stakeholders.”

Nonetheless, Dhawan acknowledged that the demands of communities and governments could increase to such an extent that it was “simply not commercially viable” for mining companies to accede to the demands, with more excessive requests possibly reflecting deeper, unresolved societal issues, such as substandard basic service delivery.

“However, even in such cases, mining companies can better secure their future by adopting a long-term view that assists all stakeholders by engaging with them constructively while also fulfilling some of these communities’ fundamental human needs, said Dhawan.

Further, he added that mining companies had to address several other sustainability-related issues, including moving from a “mere compliance approach” to creating value from environmental regulations and showing resilience amid changing environmental conditions, as well as driving a culture of safe operations that caused zero harm to workers, the community and the environment.

Community Involvement

Additionally, candidate doctor of technology at the Durban University of Technology Kea Modimoeng pointed out during his presentation at the conference that, prior to 1994, mining companies in South Africa were not obligated to contribute towards social transformation in the communities in which they operated but, after 1994, had to implement CSR programmes to improve the lives of the people in the communities in which they operated.

Despite CSR programmes, many mining- community organisations have been demanding more from mining companies. Modimoeng attributed this to the disconnect between what mines promise and community aspirations.

He noted that communities, through nongovernmental organisations and their own networks, were starting to lobby for mines to contribute more resources and provide greater long-term opportunities in the areas in which they operated.

Modimoeng averred that the formation of national community interest organisations, such as Mining Affected Communities United in Action and the Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa, over the past five years, illustrated that there was “boiling tension” among community members, owing to their not receiving sufficient economic and social benefits from mines.

However, he stressed that the challenge for mines to adequately respond to the needs and aspirations of local communities was not a uniquely South African matter: “. . . globally, one of the major risk factors for mining houses is the opposition of local communities to mining activities”.

As the issue of mines securing and maintaining their social licence to operate in local communities remained of paramount importance in South Africa, mines could possibly even offer very generous CSR packages and ensure signifi- cant job opportunities for local communities, Modimoeng stated.

Further, if communities regarded the impact of mining as outweighing their long-term interests, they would demonstrate vehemently against establishing a mine, making it “highly unlikely that a mine will ever come into operation in the area”.

Additionally, Modimoeng pointed out that communities were calling on mines to make them partners in all CSR programmes, as they no longer wanted “handouts” but rather viable programmes that would improve their lives and assist them in fulfilling their long-term aspirations.

“I believe that companies require a more systematic system of monitoring the outcome of their CSR programmes,” he said.

More regular engagement between stakeholders and improved communications were important to ensure that parties remained informed about CSR programmes and operational developments that might impact on communities, Modimoeng added.

“Mining companies should also better align their CSR programmes with district-level development plans and poverty-reduction strategies . . . mines could potentially redirect their efforts towards supporting capacity in areas such as budgeting and planning.”

Modimoeng conceded that this approach could result in mines taking over the duties and responsibilities of local governments. He added that mines had to, therefore, do proper research regarding the needs of the local communities in which they operated and assist in developing them in a way that was mutually beneficial for all parties, including the company, communities, workers, trade unions and government.

“This will encourage a spirit of genuine long-term collaboration and respect among all parties,” he stated.

Community Relationship Practitioners Focus

The University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry (CSMI), in Johannesburg, offers training programmes for mining and petrochemicals companies’ community relationship practitioners, who negotiate and consult with community stakeholders on behalf of companies.

CSMI stakeholder engagement programme manager Nancy Coulson said during her presentation that “there is very inadequate training in this area across sub-Saharan Africa”, which she substantiated with results from a survey conducted by the centre in 2014 among participants prior to a training course.

Only 32% of participants believed that they had “strong competence” in undertaking community engagement work, with 70% of them indicating that they had “adequate competence”; only 24% indicated that their companies had offered them some form of relevant training, she elaborated.

Coulson also highlighted that “community relations engagement in the sub-Saharan Africa region is still very much in its infancy stage”.

She attributed this to the role of community relationship practitioners often being ill defined, and to the department in which they worked vary- ing from company to company.

For example, practitioners could work in a dedicated CSR or community development department, or in the communications, public affairs or communications departments.

This, Coulson said, was “quite significant”, as it highlighted the lack of standardisation regarding community relations work across the mining sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

Resilient Community Relations

Coulson said that, generally, when people focused on community engagement issues, the key focus area was effective communication.

“Community relationship practitioners, however, define the key factors as respect, honesty and accountability, which all pertain to values,” she highlighted.

Coulson further noted that community relationship practitioners had informed the CSMI that there needed to be consistency in company-community engagement, as it conveyed to communities that companies genuinely placed a high degree of emphasis on these values.

Practitioners also indicated that activism on the part of the communities made a difference to the community engagement process.

“Practitioners have discovered through their work in communities that, if companies want to engage successfully with locals, these communities must be organised and informed,” Coulson pointed out.

Moreover, she highlighted that practitioners had also said that companies needed to establish fixed policies and standards to provide a framework for supporting “resilient relationships between themselves and the communities”, such as providing clear guidelines for practitioners on how to engage with artisanal miners.

Coulson said local political dynamics was traditionally an issue community practitioners were uncomfortable discussing, as companies avoided being perceived as taking sides in political matters.
“Even training institutions have generally pushed to have the practitioner play a politically neutral role, focusing solely on communication skills and packaging information succinctly.”

She stated that this was, however, a “fatally flawed approach”, as the role of the practitioner was about coordinating the distribution of financial, social and other related benefits, which was an “inherently political activity”.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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