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A three-year study by Mining Affected Communities in Action (MACUA) has found that 11 mining companies have failed to meet the promises they made to their communities.
The report, titled “Looted Promises: the Crumbs Economy of Mining and the Myth of the Just Transition”, also finds that Parliament’s mining portfolio committee and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) have failed to hold mining companies accountable. Mining companies are obliged to submit Social and Labour Plans (SLPs) to the DMPR as part of their applications for mining rights. SLPs are valid for five years, in which they need to be implemented. The report studied the five-year SLPs submitted by 11 companies in Mpumalanga, North West, Free State, Northern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal for the period up to 2024. In their plans, the 11 companies promised to spend R376.25-million on community projects, including roads and schools. But when MACUA visited the communities, it found that only R92-million in projects had been spent. Projects worth R284-million had not been completed. MACUA noted that collectively the companies had generated profits of R72-billion over the five-year SLP period, yet less than 1% of profit had been spent on SLP projects. Only six of the 11 companies had made their SLPs publicly available, and only two had provided SLPs in a locally spoken language. “This is not underperformance. It is developmental theft,” said MACUA in the report. MACUA has consistently reported its social audit findings to the DMPR, but the department has failed to initiate any investigations or impose penalties on mining companies.
- Read this report by Magnificent Mndebele, media and communications manager at MACUA-WAMUA Advice Office, at GroundUp
- Read too, Macua says R284 million in social development funds missing from SA mining sites, at IOL Business
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page