The research focused on the state of compliance of SLPs by three mining companies operating in the Sekhukhune area and experiences of local mining-affected communities.
The research was conducted between October 2020 and July 2021.
The three mining companies investigated were Twickenham platinum mine — a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American Platinum Ltd which is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, Marula platinum mine — owned by Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd, and Sefateng chrome mine.
The report found that all the three mining companies investigated had failed to comply with obligations which arose from respective SLPs. The report found that Twickenham failed to complete a project related to water and sanitation at schools.
Marula failed to build or rehabilitate a road in the area. Sefateng was in partial compliance with its community water and schools support projects.
The report also found that the department of minerals, resources and energy failed to hold mining companies accountable.
“The state is obliged to take measures towards the realisation of rights enshrined in chapter 2 of the constitution [such as education, food, water, healthcare and social security]. The state’s failure to ensure compliance not only leads to the violation of these rights but creates an untenable situation in which companies have free rein to do as they please,” said Louis Snyman from the centre for applied legal studies.
“A department of minerals, resources and energy official sent email responses to a member of the research team stating that they had not yet received a compliance report by Sefateng for the year 2020 but that, even worse, Sefateng have not been submitting annual compliance reports generally.
“The mine has continued to operate despite being a persistent offender in failing to report [according to the department] as expressly required by the minerals and petroleum resources development act.”
The report also found that not a single interviewee from the affected communities recounted a positive experience of the minerals and energy department.
“The common thread among the interviewees was very minimal presence and contact of the department of minerals, resources and energy in their communities. The department was not perceived as an institution that looks after the rights of communities, nor one to hold mining companies accountable to their SLP obligations,” read the report.
Another damning finding against the energy department was that it only has 96 Environmental Mineral Resources Inspectors tasked with monitoring mines’ compliance with their environmental obligations.
“This is grossly insufficient given the 1,757 operational mines across the country,” read the report.
Amnesty International researcher Marike Keller said the researchers wrote to the mining companies and minerals and energy department to present them with findings of the report and to seek responses on a number of issues raised in the report.
Keller said only Anglo American and Sefateng responded but there were no responses received from Impala Platinum Mine nor the department at the time the report was finalised for print.
Three mines fail to comply with obligations to help Sekhukhune community — report
Image: Simon Mathebula
The department of minerals, resources and energy failed to adequately regulate mines and carry out its oversight role to ensure the implementation of community development plans in the Sekhukhune region in Limpopo.
This is the finding contained in a research report released by civil society organisations Amnesty International SA, Centre for Applied Legal Studies and the Sekhukhune Combined Mining-Affected Communities yesterday.
The department, which is the regulating body of mining rights and enforcement of social and labour plans (SLPs), failed to ensure their implementation in Sekhukhune by mining companies.
A SLP is a document which mining companies are required to submit to the minerals and energy department outlining how a mine will benefit communities affected by the mining operation.
The report was launched in a virtual event attended by members of the civil organisations under the theme: “Unearthing the truth: have the mines failed the communities in the Sekhukhune region in SA?”
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The research focused on the state of compliance of SLPs by three mining companies operating in the Sekhukhune area and experiences of local mining-affected communities.
The research was conducted between October 2020 and July 2021.
The three mining companies investigated were Twickenham platinum mine — a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American Platinum Ltd which is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, Marula platinum mine — owned by Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd, and Sefateng chrome mine.
The report found that all the three mining companies investigated had failed to comply with obligations which arose from respective SLPs. The report found that Twickenham failed to complete a project related to water and sanitation at schools.
Marula failed to build or rehabilitate a road in the area. Sefateng was in partial compliance with its community water and schools support projects.
The report also found that the department of minerals, resources and energy failed to hold mining companies accountable.
“The state is obliged to take measures towards the realisation of rights enshrined in chapter 2 of the constitution [such as education, food, water, healthcare and social security]. The state’s failure to ensure compliance not only leads to the violation of these rights but creates an untenable situation in which companies have free rein to do as they please,” said Louis Snyman from the centre for applied legal studies.
“A department of minerals, resources and energy official sent email responses to a member of the research team stating that they had not yet received a compliance report by Sefateng for the year 2020 but that, even worse, Sefateng have not been submitting annual compliance reports generally.
“The mine has continued to operate despite being a persistent offender in failing to report [according to the department] as expressly required by the minerals and petroleum resources development act.”
The report also found that not a single interviewee from the affected communities recounted a positive experience of the minerals and energy department.
“The common thread among the interviewees was very minimal presence and contact of the department of minerals, resources and energy in their communities. The department was not perceived as an institution that looks after the rights of communities, nor one to hold mining companies accountable to their SLP obligations,” read the report.
Another damning finding against the energy department was that it only has 96 Environmental Mineral Resources Inspectors tasked with monitoring mines’ compliance with their environmental obligations.
“This is grossly insufficient given the 1,757 operational mines across the country,” read the report.
Amnesty International researcher Marike Keller said the researchers wrote to the mining companies and minerals and energy department to present them with findings of the report and to seek responses on a number of issues raised in the report.
Keller said only Anglo American and Sefateng responded but there were no responses received from Impala Platinum Mine nor the department at the time the report was finalised for print.
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