https://www.miningweekly.com

Mining major committed to SLP adherence

18th November 2016

  

Font size: - +

In the face of global and domestic economic challenges, the need for mining major Anglo American to make a positive, sustainable contribution to society is perhaps greater than ever, says Anglo American South Africa executive head Andile Sangqu.

“We have not compromised in our efforts towards meeting our country’s transformation goals, and the many benefits that we bring are evident in the communities around which we mine,” he notes in the company’s fifth yearly Transformation Report published in September.

The report highlights objectives and results of 2015, during which the company invested R958-million in community development.

Anglo sees its focus on developing sustainable mining communities as the cornerstone of its commitment to transformation.

The company has long operated in many areas of South Africa that are underdeveloped and remote, developing and supporting critical infrastructure – such as roads, health facilities and clean water – that helps improve the lives of local communities.

By partnering with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on its social and labour plan (SLP) initiatives, Anglo says it has been able to invest in infrastructure where it matters most: at local government level.

The company continued its partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa on the Municipal Capacity Development Programme in 2015, which has had positive economic benefits, improving revenue collection systems in 11 municipalities in five provinces across South Africa.

“The challenging market conditions will undoubtedly impact on the scale of our socioeconomic investments. Anglo American is a consistent and significant contributor to South Africa’s development and we are thinking innovatively about how we can continue to contribute most effectively,” says Sangqu.

Regulatory affairs and transformation head Lindiwe Zikhali adds that the company has exceeded compliance in many of its efforts to advance transformation. “It is not a ‘tick box’ exercise, it is a business imperative that employees and leaders across our company are embracing.”

Anglo has maintained and, in some areas improved, its historically disadvantaged South African (HDSA) representation at management level, with the overall aggregate growing from 62% to 63% in 2015.

The company has also developed a strong pipeline of skills, particularly at entry level, as a result of its graduate and fast-tracking programmes, with businesses spending R936-million on HDSA training and development.

Meanwhile, the report notes that, by the end of 2014, all Anglo American business units had achieved the Mining Charter requirements to fully convert all traditional mining hostels into single or family units. In 2015, the company spent more than R1.9-billion on housing initiatives, including expenditure on bulk services, land purchases and housing allowances.

To advance beneficiation, the company launched the world’s first fuel cell minigrid electrification field trial – through the Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) business unit – in the rural communities of Kroonstad, in the Free State, and Cofimvaba, in the Eastern Cape. The system is being piloted as an electricity supplier to remote communities where the cost of electrification, as an expansion of the national grid, may be cost or technically prohibitive.

Further,

Anglo says its long-standing enterprise development initiative, Zimele, has continued to act as a catalyst for emerging black entrepreneurs. Last year, Zimele’s funds provided R308-million in funding to 321 businesses that collectively employed more than 8 600 people.

The company states that it is focused on building the capacity of local suppliers, with an emphasis on black-owned and women-owned suppliers and has, therefore, spent R36.7-million, nearly 80% of its total procurement expenditure, in South Africa.

Amplats SLP Projects

In March, Amplats handed over several completed SLP projects that were undertaken by the company’s Rustenburg-based Union mine, which is a joint venture with the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela traditional authority and is in the process of being sold.

The 19 SLP projects were aimed at infrastructure development, education, health and poverty alleviation. Projects included the construction of a community centre, a primary healthcare clinic, renovation of school facilities and multiple agricultural and infrastructure initiatives. About 281 job opportunities were created through the implementation of these SLP projects.

The transfer of the projects was commemorated in a ceremony attended by Amplats CEO Chris Griffith, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, employees and local community members.

Speaking at the ceremony, Griffith said the occasion was an excellent example of a successful collaboration between the key stakeholders of government, traditional leadership and communities, who had worked towards ensuring that mining could deliver its share of benefits to communities. He added that, while the company was mindful of the challenges facing the platinum industry, it was pleased with the progress of its community initiatives and it would remain committed to a number of projects in the next generation of Union mine’s SLP.

“It is extremely important for industry to serve the needs of the communities in which it operates, as well as those from which it sources labour. With greater collaboration we will be able to achieve even greater things for our communities, so that we can indeed realise the objectives of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act – that the people derive sustainable benefit from the minerals beneath the soil,” Zwane stated.

The Mining Charter, he said, was clear on the objectives that needed to be met by each right holder, commending those who had embraced this and not just treated it as a matter of compliance. “We will also continue to act in line with the law, where a right holder is not complying with the Act,” added Zwane.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION