Majority of Southern Africans ‘desperately poor’ despite region’s mineral endowment
Despite its mineral resources, the South African Development Community (SADC) region had the worst health and poverty gap on the planet, Bench Marks Foundation chairperson Dr Jo Seoka said at the not-for-profit faith-based foundation’s two-day conference, which was held in Johannesburg last month.
He added that, while a few people in the region were extremely rich, the vast majority of people in SADC member countries were desperately poor, which was reflected by high unemployment, homelessness, crime and corruption.
Seoka asserted that countries in the region should have a high standard of living, owing to their significant mineral resource endowment. “On the contrary, the region with the greatest mineral wealth on the planet is also the region whose people are living in abject poverty, with the highest rates of HIV/Aids infection and the highest incidence of tuberculosis, as well as the highest levels of silicosis – a disease associated directly with mining – malaria and bilharzia.”
He told delegates that mining was usually portrayed as an investment for development, a source of jobs and a contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country.
“[Mining] is seen as the holy cow of economics and as sacrosanct – not to be questioned or challenged . . . despite hundreds of thousands of poor people living in abject poverty because of loss of arable land and livelihoods, aggravating health conditions, as well as cultural and social upheaval – all of which manifest . . . in unemployment and push poor communities to the margins of society.”
Seoka noted that mining, worldwide, was suffering a crisis of legitimacy for two reasons: firstly, because of its negative environmental impact and subsequent contribution to climate change and, secondly, because of “its great cost [to] communities and rural life styles, which gives rise to serious health concerns”.
Bench Marks has more than 100 monitors in 40 mining communities across South Africa, with a reach into Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Mozambique.
A common theme among mining communities – that it is destroying their environment and causing them suffering – was highlighted by Seoka, who further stated that, despite their outcries, “no one is listening”.
He added that promises in the form of corporate social investment, social and labour plan undertakings, and industrial activity from mining companies were often not realised.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation