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Bloomberg reports that in five case studies of mines, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) found that most communities were unaware of the commitments companies made in their social plans and in almost all cases those promises were not fulfilled.
The cases ranged from platinum and coal extraction to clay. Legislation introduced in 2004 requires mines to establish and implement social and labour plans in order to be granted a license. The plans, along with legislation demanding greater black ownership of assets, are supposed to be part of the post-apartheid government’s plans to reduce inequality. “Our case studies, together with the testimonies of mining communities, would suggest that social and labour plans are not assisting in overcoming systemic inequality,” the study’s authors, Robert Krause and Louis Snyman, said. The case studies, in which the mines were not identified, said that the companies had failed to meet commitments ranging from building houses and childcare centres to funding bursaries. In most cases the local community was unaware of the commitments the companies had made in order to secure the mining licenses,
- Read this report by Antony Sguazzin in full at Business Report
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