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LEGAL VIOLATION: OPERATIONS SURROUNDED BY INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS WHERE WORKERS LIVE

- Masoka Dube

Mining companies operating in South Africa have failed to provide housing for their employees and local communities as required by law, according to recent research conducted by the Bench Marks Foundation.

Many mines are surrounded by informal settlements where mineworkers and host communities live.

"South African mines are surrounded by [informal settlements] due to their failure to provide proper, dignified housing for their employees," said David van Wyk, a researcher for the foundation.

"For example, we have been calling on a mining firm operating in Marikana, where more than 40 people were killed by security forces, to improve the housing conditions of the people in the area, but to no avail."

Van Wyk said the research also revealed that there was a need for the mining companies operating in the country to strive to bring the mining-affected communities up to similar standards as those in North America and Australia.

"The foundation's latest research, published in our Policy Gap 14, points out that it is unacceptable that South African mines are surrounded by [informal settlements] due to the failure of SA mines to provide proper, dignified housing for their employees.

"There needs to be global uniformity in working and living conditions," Van Wyk said.

The study also found a need for globally comparable wages.

It added that the wage gap between South African mineworkers and those in other countries is completely unjustifiable.