Following the award of a ground-breaking R1.2-billion contract to ten community-owned trucking companies in 2021, JSE-listed Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) says it remains committed to growing procurement from its communities.

The company’s commitment to community upliftment includes the promotion of various empowerment initiatives, including enhanced engagement of suppliers from previously disadvantaged sectors of the economy, with a specific focus on black-owned, women-owned and youth-owned businesses.

The major transport contract involves moving concentrate from mines to processing plants, meaning that 100% of concentrate produced by Amplats’ Limpopo-based mines will be transported to its processing operations in Rustenburg, Polokwane and Northam by the community-owned companies.

Previously, host community suppliers only transported about 17% of concentrate volumes and were largely subcontracted to larger logistics companies.

The platinum group metals miner increased its procurement from host and doorstep communities around its operations by more than 500% between 2016 and 2021, to a current level of R5.3-billion.

While the trucking companies are contracted directly to Amplats, their schedules, administration and technical support are being managed by JSE-listed Imperial Logistics, to ensure the necessary skills transfer to enable the companies to undertake these tasks on their own in future.

This contract will allow the transporters to obtain financing to buy their own vehicles and, ultimately, provide services to more customers by learning from Imperial’s world-class logistics practices.

“Amplats has always seen mining as a catalyst for broad-based development, and community procurement goes far beyond philanthropy or corporate social responsibility to ensure that our host communities become direct beneficiaries of the mining operations that take place in their backyards,” remarks CEO Natascha Viljoen.

She adds that this agreement demonstrates Amplats’ commitment to building thriving communities where the company operates and to supporting the creation of off-mine jobs through inclusive procurement.