Wide-awake Bafokeng community leading the way to going green

19th November 2021 By: Martin Creamer - Creamer Media Editor

Wide-awake Bafokeng community  leading the way to going green

The Bafokeng community proved to be wide awake when they made sure they got official title to their land a couple of centuries back. This resulted in the community hitting the platinum group metals jackpot. Now they have done it again by selling their large stake in Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Royal Bafokeng Platinum and keeping a smaller but meaningful one in its buyer, Northam Platinum.

The transaction allows the community to have their cake and eat it because they access 8.7% of fast-growing Northam, which is committed, in terms of the deal, to helping the 300 000-strong Bafokeng secure a niche in the vital green energy business. They keep a nice hold on platinum group metals, which are inextricably linked to going green, both directly and indirectly.

The community benefits from the mine supply chain for small enterprise development. They still have a closeness to platinum to provide green hydrogen, green electricity, green mobility and green industry. In doing so, they will likely create one of South Africa’s greenest hubs around Phokeng, near Rustenburg, and show the world how the people of Africa can fight climate change and boost their economy, jobs and technical education at the same time.