Rethinking social, labour plans: from compliance to transformational community development

THE consequences of climate change amplify vulnerabilities in communities, placing additional stresses on water availability, agricultural productivity, health outcomes, and infrastructure resilience, such as roads and housing susceptibility to severe weather conditions.

- MZILA I. MTHENJANE

Too often, when the disaster or distress hits, communities turn to mining companies to provide services and infrastructure.

Despite this reality, there remains a disconnect between intention, impact, and outcomes in these interventions.

Mining is on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation investment boom.

The global population is approaching 10 billion people, and many parts of the world, including us, are pursuing a net zero economy towards 2050 and beyond.

With an estimated $100 billion in additional capital investment in the resources sector required each year to meet the demand outlook associated with urbanisation and the decarbonisation of the global energy system, sizeable increases in material production and infrastructure are also necessary.

For emerging economies, there is a narrow window of opportunity to seize now.

Such growing demand brings an opportunity to benefit communities, countries and investors committed to enabling and facilitating the mining and investment activities needed to meet our needs, such as skills-to-employment ecosystem, generating local value addition and create revenue flows capable of decarbonized economic development.

South Africa's mining sector is a significant driver of economic growth and critical for the socio-economic transformation of our society.

Central to this transformation agenda are Social and Labour Plans (SLPs), elements of the mining licensing regime which were introduced through the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 to ensure mining contributes to sustainable community development.

SLPs were conceived as strategic tools to promote socio-economic development, stimulate and broaden economic opportunities, and enhance skills development to support the creation of sustainable communities during and after mining.