Macua report uncovers massive fraud in South African mining sector

AN INVESTIGATION report by the Mining Affected United in Action (Macua) revealed that over R284 million allocated for Social and Labour Plan (SLP) delivery in the mining areas went missing. Macua said this was based on audits across eleven mining communities.

- MANYANE MANYANE

The organisation said the money was either undocumented, misrepresented or effectively lost to fraud and non-delivery.

The report is called “Crumbs Capture? - a morally bankrupt system in which even the limited funds earmarked for development are misappropriated through inflated tenders, ghost projects, falsified delivery reports, and elite capture - while communities languish in deepening poverty.

The report was launched yesterday.

Macua said the report, using participatory research, physical site verifications and testimonies from directly affected communities - is a culmination of three-year-long audits of 11 SLPs of mining companies in North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State and Northern Cape.

Macua said the companies from the eleven mining communities collectively reported over R376.25m in SLP commitments but only R92.25m was confirmed as delivered through infrastructure or community services.

This leaves a whopping R284m unaccounted for, read the report. Macua said this was not merely a gap in implementation, but the looting of legally mandated development obligations under the guise of corporate social investment.

But this is only part of the picture.