Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore recently completed an electrification project where it assisted South African power utility Eskom to provide electricity access to 300 households in the Ga-Masha and Ga-Rantho communities, in Limpopo.
Glencore aims to assist government in its quest to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans through fostering sustainable growth, especially in rural areas where inadequate service delivery negatively impacts on people.
The miner notes in a statement that the lack of access to electricity in the communities has caused many challenges for community members, who eventually resorted to protests. This caused serious damage to the road infrastructure and the property of private companies and individuals.
The electrification project cost Glencore about R6-million and created 42 job opportunities for the people in the community.
“It filled us with such great pride to see how excited these community members were to finally have access to electricity after the municipality was unable to provide it for them.
"At Glencore, we take our commitment to progress together by improving the lives of the people in our host communities very seriously and we are glad that we were able to lend a hand to the local municipality and the community at large,” comments Glencore eastern limb operations corporate social investment manager Vorster Maloka.