Mineral sands miner Tronox South Africa last week handed over four local economic development (LED) projects to local communities surrounding its Fairbreeze project near Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Tronox and its partners have now completed 14 LED projects, all of which were carried out using local contractors, suppliers and workers wherever possible. The handover of the projects – which represented more than R20-million of investments – was delayed by the pandemic.

“It’s long overdue. We would have loved to have handed over these projects in 2020 and 2021 but because of Covid-19, we couldn’t do it,” said Tronox South Africa MD Mpho Mothoa at the handover event at the Gubhethuka Primary School in the Dube community, which Mining Weekly attended along with representatives from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Department of Education, local government, the local municipality and local community leaders.

Between 2018 and 2020, eight communities were invested in through Tronox’s LED initiatives, benefiting about 342 individuals’ lives.

Tronox built 29 classrooms at schools in seven communities. Four schools received fully-equipped administration blocks, while three schools received flushable toilets. Houses were built for 34 families by Tronox since 2018, while 23 more families will receive their houses in the course of the next two years.

“We have done this because we want to go beyond mining and beyond compliance. Our efforts are aimed at promoting the long-term interest of not only our employees but also of the local communities, business partners and our customers,” Mothoa said.

THE PROJECTS

The four LED projects officially handed over on March 11 were at Gubhethuka Primary School in the Dube community, Nsingweni Primary School in the Nzuza community, Thekelimfundo Primary School in the Macambini community and Mbuyiseni High School in the Mkhwanazi community.

The Gubhethuka Primary School project involved the building of a new administration block, which was completed in February last year.

The Mbuyiseni High School’s new computer centre was completed in January last year. New ablution blocks and a new administration building were installed at Nsingweni Primary School, which was completed by March last year, while the Thekelimfundo Primary School received a new kitchen and sports field – which is still under construction.

Other school-based LED projects included a new fence at Inkosi Zenzo Primary School in the Madlebe community, and a new administration block at the Qhamuka High School in the Somopho community.

Some of the other LED projects carried out by Tronox in the area included providing housing for the local communities. The Umlalazi community received three new houses by the end of February and the Dube community received ten new houses at the end of August last year, while the KwaDube community also received ten houses at the end of December. The Mkhwanazi community received five new houses for people living with disabilities.

Tronox also invested in the local Port Dunford Bakery in the Mkhwanazi community by building stands and supply lines for water tanks and an on-site generator. The project was completed in November last year.

The Batshazwayo creche was also built in the KwaDube community and completed at the end of September last year.

Meanwhile, a veterinary clinic was built in the Madlankala area at Esikhaleni in the Dube community. It was completed in November last year.