Mpumalanga mine water public-private organisation the Mine Water Coordinating Body (MWCB) hopes its new partnership with socioeconomic development collaboration company The Impact Catalyst will provide a collaborative platform for the collective, integrated and sustainable mine water management in the Upper Olifants River basin, says MWCB programme manager Carla Hudson.
MWCB will work with The Impact Catalyst to empower local communities in Mpumalanga, as the MWCB consortium works to address mine water challenges in the Upper Olifants Catchment and environmental, social and economic challenges that arise from mine and power station closures.
"MWCB facilitates a regional mine water management approach. It is important to strengthen relationships with key role players, especially in the private and public sectors, to ensure local communities derive benefits from the various initiatives," Hudson says.
The Impact Catalyst initiative uses public-private collaboration platforms to drive large-scale, socioeconomic development, alleviate poverty and promote equality through job creation and improved healthcare in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape provinces.
"Several initiatives by our stakeholders are currently under way where it was decided to share available resources, avoid duplication and enhance the impact and value of these initiatives to the people on the ground, as well as leverage additional support to ensure a sustainable positive impact on the communities in South Africa," says Hudson.
The Impact Catalyst has identified opportunities to deploy some of its high-impact projects into Mpumalanga to provide benefits to the communities, says The Impact Catalyst manager Charl Harding.
“The Impact Catalyst is impacting on people’s lives in Limpopo. To support our partners, we have decided that Mpumalanga and Northern Cape are areas of great need where we can support socioeconomic development. The Impact Catalyst would like to expand its partnerships in Mpumalanga and provide the necessary support for socio-economic development in the area.”
“The partnership between MWCB and The Impact Catalyst is a key milestone because the organisations complement each others' efforts significantly to provide socio-economic development, and our combined forces can drive change in Mpumalanga as a collective,” he adds.
MWCB was established through the Strategic Water Partners Network Working Group in 2016 by the Department of Water and Sanitation, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, mining companies Anglo American, Exxaro, Glencore, South32 and Sasol, and State-owned power utility Eskom.
The Impact Catalyst was formed by diversified mining multinational Anglo American, South African industrial research organisation the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Exxaro, child relief and support organisation World Vision South Africa and engineering consultancy Zutari.