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Measuring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in mining host communities: a South African case study
Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been adopted by countries and corporates across the world, including the major mining companies. This study contributes to the operationalisation of the SDGs in the mining industry by defining and measuring a set of SDG indicators for mining host communities. It identifies 15 dimensions in 13 SDGs and measures 11 socio-economic indicators (income, household goods, health, education, gender equality, water, sanitation, electricity, employment, housing, and internet access) for 95 mining host communities across South Africa. These communities are located near 198 large-scale mines and are home to over 5.6 million people. Data for the 11 indicators were visualised in ‘barometers of well-being’ for different commodities and types of communities. The results provide the first comparison of living standards of all mining host communities in South Africa, with notable differences highlighting the impact of South Africa’s past policies of racial segregation and discrimination. In line with the SDG vision to leave no-one behind, this novel SDG barometer for the mining industry focuses on communities rather than companies. It highlights the importance of data disaggregation and sectoral reporting, and the opportunity the SDGs present for improved monitoring of the minerals industry to promote inclusive socio-economic development.
... In 2022, the mining industry employed 475,561 people, the majority of whom work in platinum (36%), gold (20%) and coal (19%) mines (Minerals Council South Africa, 2023). A total of 18 major commodities are currently produced in 203 mines, operated by 90 mining companies (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021). These operations are supported or hosted by 227 diverse communities, including cities, towns, townships, mine villages, and rural villages, across South Africa (Figure 1), home to about 6.5 million people. ...
... Spatial, demographic and socio-economic data on all South African mines, mining communities and local municipalities previously collated by some of the project team (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021Cole et al., 2023a) were used and expanded using the Census 2011 database and Community Survey 2016 database in SuperCross made available by DataFirst (StatsSA, 2014;StatsSA, 2017). Open-source quantitative data in various formats were collected from various national and international sources, such as the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the national Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), the BirdLife International Programme and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), and the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) (see Table 1) and converted into a consistent format and georeferenced. ...
... The Atlas was designed with a simple user interfaced that does not require any specialised training to use. However, the low levels of basic education among South African mining host communities (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021) may pose an obstacle to these stakeholders. While interpretation is a subjective exercise, understanding the implications and nature of data in the first instance is the first critical step in the process of interpretation. ...
Mining is deeply embedded in the history of modern South Africa and has played a major role in the country's geopolitical and socioeconomic development. It continues to be a critical contributor to the national economy (7.5% of GDP) and the world's supply of metals and minerals, producing 74% of global platinum, 36% of chrome ore, 36% of manganese, 23% of zirconium, 8% of diamonds, 3.5% of gold and 3.2% of coal. There are currently 202 operating large-scale mines owned by 90 mining companies and hosted by 325 urban and rural communities across South Africa, home to 6.5 million people. Many of these communities are dependent on mining for jobs and local business, and they will be significantly affected by mine closure. Mine closure risks and land-use opportunities are site-specific, and affected by numerous social, economic, environmental, governance and infrastructural factors, and policies and practices need to take them all into account. National government and other stakeholders need guidance in terms of identifying high risk areas, relevant policy interventions and suitable post-closure land-use opportunities. This paper describes one aspect of a 3-year research project aimed at producing mine closure risk ratings for every large-scale mine and a post-closure land use opportunity framework to inform and support mine closure planning. A South African Mine Closure Risk and Opportunity Atlas has been developed using ArcGIS and QGIS software as a publicly available online tool. It shows the locations and key characteristics of all mines and communities, preliminary risk ratings for likelihood of closure, social impact and environmental impact, as well as their underlying data so that the user can make their own assessment. Post-closure land use opportunities can be analysed based on diverse datasets pertaining to communities, municipalities, land, water, energy, biodiversity and infrastructure by users of the Atlas as part of a bigger analytical process. The Atlas adds value through its diversity and comprehensiveness with 52 nationwide datasets displayed, its functionality allowing users to perform typical GIS-type tasks, and its accessibility to all stakeholders as it is designed for computers and smartphones. It has been tested with experts from civil society, academia, consulting, mining companies and government and applied to case studies of post-mining land-use in platinum, gold and coal mining areas. While it has been developed for South Africa, the concept, design and insights could be applied to any mining country in the world.
... Mining processes are relevant to the achievement of the 17 goals in the SDGs (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021;Monteiro et al., 2019). UNDP (2016) recognizes several opportunities to leverage and contribute to SDGs, including for environmental sustainability (SDG 6 and SDG 15;SDG 7 and SDG 13), social inclusion (SDG 1, SDG 5, and SDG 10; SDG 16), and economic development (SDG8; SDG 9 and SDG 12), including through demand for labor, fiscal revenues, and infrastructure development. ...
... However, mining generally involves major tradeoffs between different SDGs (Endl et al., 2019) and can even become an obstacle in achieving most of the SDGs (Omotehinse & De Tomi, 2019), notably through negative environmental impacts, economic and social inequalities, health problems, and conflicts (Conde & Le Billon, 2017;UNDP, 2016). There is, however, much variation in the types of mining and related impacts on SDGs (de Haan et al., 2020;Yakovleva et al., 2017), including as a result of the characteristics of communities in proximity to mining operations and their relations with mining activities, revenue flows, and socio-environmental impacts (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021). ...
... Although the academic literature considers critical mineral extraction impacts (Werker et al., 2019), studies rarely systematically assess local social issues and impacts to the level of details required to inform concerted efforts and change of practices to affect development outcomes (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021). In this light, the study will focus on the mineral extraction phase only. ...
The extraction of critical minerals used in clean technologies has profound impacts on sustainable development goals (SDGs). Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is used to evaluate the sustainability impacts of products and services, but few frameworks exist to support SDGs assessment for the “green minerals” extraction. Here, we propose a mining‐specific framework identifying linkages between LCSA and SDGs, along with a process to integrate methods and data. As a proof of concept, we assess the LCSA performance and local‐community level SDG impacts of a nickel mining project in Indonesia. Integrating remote sensing, media sources, stakeholder's data, and expert opinion, we find that LCSA encompasses all 17 goals but only a subset of targets and indicators. The study highlights the need to incorporate indigenous people's perspectives in both LCSA and SDG assessments, and points to priority areas for improving life cycle sustainability and SDG outcomes: fighting corruption, protecting cultural heritage, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We suggest that this framework can inform corporate social responsibility activities, as well as consumer choices for low‐carbon technologies.
... Since the inception of the Mining and Metals for Sustainable Development initiative in the late 1990s, there has been a proliferation of sustainability initiatives in the mining industry (Sturman et al., 2018), and the SDGs provide an opportunity for mining companies to align their strategy, incentive mechanisms and interventions to national and sub-national priorities (Maennling and Correa, 2020). The SDG indicators are useful for assessing baseline needs of mining communities, tracking performance over time, measuring the impact of interventions by mining companies and the effectiveness of government policy interventions (Maennling et al., 2019;Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). All the major mining companies have committed to supporting the SDGs, and although companies are increasingly aligning their sustainability reporting with the SDGs, they often highlight the positive contributions while omitting any negative impacts that would hinder progress toward the SDGs (Responsible Mining Foundation, 2020). ...
... Today South Africa is a leading global producer of platinum group metals, chromium, manganese, vanadium, gold, coal, iron ore and several other metals and minerals (Yager, 2021). Over 90 cities, towns, and villages in South Africa host 198 large-scale mines, situated within a quarter of the country's local municipalities (Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). ...
... Significant and urgent effort is required if these most deprived areas are to have any hope of achieving the SDGs by 2030, particularly in the areas of education (SDG 4), internet access (SDG 17) and employment (SDG 8). This is consistent with other local municipalities that host operating mines in South Africa, and South Africa as a whole (Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). This case study shows the value of disaggregated data which can be used to identify the most vulnerable members of society and enable tailored social and economic policies to give these groups equal access to opportunities (Maennling and Correa, 2020). ...
There is a significant role for the mining and minerals industry to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a global level, through supplying the raw materials needed for technological progress, human development and cleaner economic growth, and at a local level, through socio-economic development and support, environmental protection, and good governance. While mining companies support the SDGs at the corporate level, there is a lack of evidence to show whether they are being implemented at the mine site level. There is also a lack of clarity on who the mine host communities are and what happens to the SDGs commitments after mine closure. The aim of this study was to identify all the host communities in the West Wits goldfield in South Africa and measure a comprehensive set of local SDG indicators, to explore the local variations that are hidden at national and municipal level, and the implications for communities achieving the SDGs in the context of mine closure. The West Wits is home to over 300,000 people living in 47 diverse communities—towns, mine villages, townships, informal settlements, industrial areas and rural areas. While 23 local SDG indicators were selected, only 13 indicators across 8 SDGs could be measured using census data. The findings show significant inequality between communities and deprivation in many communities, particularly the informal settlements. There are low levels of education, internet access and employment across the communities, indicating high vulnerability to mine closure. Without major intervention the SDGs will not be met by 2030 and thousands of people in these communities will be left behind. This is even more concerning given the majority of mines are expected to close in the next 10–20 years and the local economy in the West Wits is largely reliant on mining. Achieving the SDGs will require collaboration between multiple mining companies, local government authorities, civil society and communities, and significant urgent interventions on education and skills development, internet access and employment creation beyond the mining industry.
... This gives a much clearer picture of the local context which is blurred by municipal level statistics which hide the extreme inequalities that exist in South Africa. Twelve socio-economic indicators were selected based on the national SDG baseline report (StatsSA, 2017), the South African Index of Multiple Deprivation (SAIMD) (Noble et al., 2010) and national census data to describe social vulnerability, covering seven SDGs and multiple aspects of basic services, living standards, livelihoods and public goods (Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). For example, the national upper-bound poverty line in 2011 was R779 per person per month (or R9,348 per person per year) however, the census records annual household income brackets, so the bracket maximum closest to the poverty line (>R19,600 per household per year or USD1,100) was selected. ...
... South Africa is an extremely unequal country, with one of the highest Gini coefficient's (measuring income inequality) in the world, and very high levels of unemployment (39% compared to other middle-income mining countries 7.7% in India and 3.8% in Indonesia (World Bank, 2023)) and poverty (DPME, 2017). Limpopo province is known for its high levels of poverty and unemployment and poor basic service delivery; Mogalakwena Local Municipality is 79% rural with 54% of the population living below the poverty line, much lower than the national average of 44% and other local municipalities that host mines which average 40% (Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). Mining companies are required to contribute to local socio-economic development through their Social and Labour Plans (SLPs) and Anglo American Platinum has constructed and upgraded schools and clinics in neighbouring rural villages, installed solar lighting and wastewater treatment facilities, and provided adult basic education and training (Anglo American Platinum, 2017;MACUA, 2020). ...
Global demand for metals is expected to continue to grow significantly to 2050, partly driven by the need for climate change mitigation measures that require energy transition metals including platinum group metals (PGMs). The environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks of mining these metals are seldom acknowledged in energy transition scenarios and pose a risk to future metal supply. Multiple ESG drivers at different scales create direct and indirect pressures and risks to a specific mine site and their interactions across scales create complex system dynamics. Although mining companies identify ESG factors as their biggest risks (and opportunities), interdisciplinary mining research is in its infancy and ESG factors are often oversimplified or overlooked. While global studies are important for providing an overview of the industry, and highlighting trends and patterns, they cannot communicate the complexity found at the local scale. This paper describes ESG risks, opportunities, and impacts across nine dimensions (water, energy, biodiversity, waste, air quality, community, social vulnerability, land use, and governance) for Anglo American Platinum's Mogalakwena PGM mine in South Africa. It provides insight into a developing country African context and an in-depth view of the complex ESG risks around PGM mining in South Africa. Given South Africa hosts 91% of global PGM resources, understanding and addressing these ESG risks is critical for ensuring long-term PGM supply and enabling a just energy transition.
... Since the inception of the SDGs, one of the major concerns is to create a framework which can be used for the purpose of assessment of targeted attainments (Allen et al. 2020). The process of designing appropriate techniques and methods to measure the extent of achievement of these goals has always intrigued the researchers in the past (Liu et al. 2017;Bidarbakhtnia 2020;Cole and Broadhurst 2021). In absence of a well-designed methodology and an unambiguous framework, it would be difficult to assess SDGs (Doğan et al. 2023). ...
The global focus on evaluating environmental performance means that sustainable development goals must be prioritized to preserve environmental sustainability. In order to accomplish the SDGs, it is crucial that activities be preferred and that methods be developed to assess their effectiveness. As a result, the techniques used for the measurement and assessment of the SDGs have increased in significance for all countries. Researchers and academics create these technologies through research and invention. By undertaking a bibliometric analysis, this study aims to identify the scholarship in the area of SDG assessment and measurement. The analysis was produced by collecting the related studies from the Web of Science database. The information was retrieved, and a thorough and organized analysis was done to give crucial insights on the chosen issue. The analysis revealed the most often cited articles, important institutions that contributed, leading research-involved nations, and institutions. To evaluate the varied collection of techniques accessible for the goal of evaluating SDGs, a thorough review of the most cited works is conducted and provides a bird’s eye view of research on mechanisms for measuring the outcomes of SDGs.
... It is well established in the literature that oil-producing companies have legitimised their operations by being environmentally and socially responsible due to the destructive nature of their operations. They do so by integrating sustainability practices into their business models, thereby demonstrating accountability for their environmental and social impacts (Abdalla and Siti-Nabiha, 2015;Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). The large oil discoveries off the coast of Ghana have sparked significant economic and political activity in terms of managing the potential benefits. ...
Purpose
The study examines the instigating factors behind the development of the local content (LC) policy in Ghana and it further investigates the accountability mechanisms that drive the LC policy implementation to promote sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach
The study reports on a series of interviews with key actors using Institutional Theory and the application of Bovens’ (2010) Global Accountability Framework as a lens for discussion and interpretation of results.
Findings
The results reveal that two forces instigated LC policy enactment. One is external funding pressure from the Norwegian government and the World Bank. The other is the government’s engagement of Civil Society Organisations and other internal stakeholders to justify its activities and missions to signal adherence to impartiality, neutrality, and, to a lesser extent, solidarity. The analysis also reveals tensions in how accountability legitimacy relates to implementation of the LC policy. The study further discovers that while participation, transparency, monitoring, and evaluation are frequently invoked as de jure institutional legitimacy in oil and gas contracts, actual practices follow normative (de facto) institutionalism rather than what the LC policy law provides.
Research limitations/implications
The interview had a relatively small number of participants, which can be argued to affect the study’s validity. Nevertheless, given the data saturation effect and the breadth of the data obtained from the respondents, this study represents a significant advancement in LC policy enactment knowledge, implementation mechanisms and enforcement in an emerging O&G industry.
Practical implications
The findings of this study suggest that future policy development in emerging economies should involve detailed consultations to increase decision-maker knowledge, process transparency and expectations. This will improve implementation and reduce stakeholder tension, conflict and mistrust.
Originality/value
The findings of this study build on earlier investigations into legitimacy, accountability and impression management in and outside the O&G sector. Also, the findings reveal the legitimising tactics used by O&G actors to promote local content sustainable development targets.
... United Nations initiated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to observe the evidence of SD's progress (Allen, Metternicht and Wiedmann, 2018;Wang et al., 2021). SDGs with169 targets and 251 global indicators, offer a guideline and policy goals to achieve sustainable development (SD) by 2030 (Baumgart et al., 2021;Cole and Broadhurst, 2021). (Baumgart et al., 2021). ...
This doctoral project intends to advance our understanding of the potential of social entrepreneurship (SE) towards sustainable development and community empowerment. While research studies linking social entrepreneurship and sustainable development (SD) are steadily increasing, in-depth and holistic investigation of if and how social entrepreneurship (SE), contributes to SD and community empowerment seems to be lacking. Therefore, the central question of this doctoral thesis is as follows: What is the potential of social entrepreneurship in contributing towards SD and community empowerment in developing economies?? To address this question, three papers were developed. Drawing on a systematic literature review and applying alternative development theory, the first paper set the disciplinary context for SE and sustainable development by identifying, synthesizing and critically evaluating the extant literature. The aim is to interrogate how and to what extent social entrepreneurship contribute to the seventeen United National Sustainable Development Goals. Paper one reveals variation of engagement by SE across all seventeen SDGs. SE seems to pay more attention on addressing problems related to SD1, SDG8, SDG3 and SDG17. The focus on SDG17 in particular reveals the importance of working in partnerships among all partners and across sectors by applying both bottom-up and top-down development approaches. These results have inspired the second paper, which aims to generate an empirically-informed picture of the extent to which SE empowers communities. The second and third paper use the context of Tanzania due to the emerging of social enterprises scholarship and practice, which has increasingly been applied in tourism sector, which is one of the key contributors to the country’s GDP. Drawing on 56 qualitative interviews in Tanzania, the second paper reveals that community empowerment is both a process and outcome in multidimensional view. Connected to these community dynamics and social inclusion function of SE, the third paper has taken the study forward by investigating the ability of SE as a vehicle for women empowerment and gender equality. The findings demonstrate there are some issues that need to be examined in-depth and that entail policy/practical interventions, particularly in developing country contexts, such as Tanzania. To enhance the capacity of SE in empowering women, a balanced approach of collaborations and partnerships among actors are essential. The key contribution of the thesis to academic knowledge lies in its ability to advance our understanding on the instrumentality of SE in empowering and enhancing the wellbeing of communities in different domains of sustainable development. Overall, the thesis provides important theoretical and practical implications for academics, policy-makers and other stakeholders in the domains of sustainable development and social entrepreneurship in general.
Keywords: Sustainable development, Social entrepreneurship, Community empowerment
... Besides the national legal agendas that point to sustainable mine closure, South Africa adopted the international agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 (Statistics South Africa 2019). To align with the country's overall Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the mine closure process must be supported by a consultation to gain a firsthand understanding of the socio-economic status quo of the community and their associated needs (Cole & Broadhurst 2021). While the SLP does not explicitly address the SDGs or impacts of social transitioning for closure, some of the provisions, as mentioned, aim to ensure that necessary processes are in place. ...
... South African research has produced case studies of mine decline (Binns & Nel, 2001;Marais, 2013;Marais et al., 2017;Marais & De Lange, 2021) and the effect of mining on host communities (Cole & Broadhurst, 2021). However, our paper is the first to use the categories of the South African urban system to analyse the effect of mine decline on crime. ...
The international literature links mining booms with social disruption. The rapid economic and population growth that mining brings increases urban crime and social problems. But insufficient attention has been paid to the reverse situation: the social disruption that can accompany the closure of a mine. We compare crime statistics for four categories of small city, known in South Africa as “intermediate city municipalities,” from 2009 to 2018. Contrary to the findings of international studies, we find that those where mining was in decline had some of the highest crime rates, particularly in the category of sexual offences, whereas those where mining was growing had the lowest. Our research shows that mine decline and closure can contribute to social disruption. We argue that South African government policy has exacerbated this problem in the context of mine decline and that several dependencies created by mining further contribute to the problem. We challenge the assumption that fast population growth and an increase in the male population are prerequisites for social disruption. Our paper suggests the need for modifications to social disruption theory.
... Where fully-fledged company towns existed, the mining companies opened them up for other residents or closed them and requested their staff to find housing in the nearest urban area (Van der Watt and Marais 2019). Despite these attempts, several company towns still exist and their living conditions are better than those in normalised and open towns (Cole and Broadhurst 2020). ...
The Chapter investigates the quality of mining companies' reporting. The chapter discusses how the mining companies that operate in the Rustenburg area, use reporting for impression management and how the this reporting is not aligned to the impression of the local communities.
... Where fully-fledged company towns existed, the mining companies opened them up for other residents or closed them and requested their staff to find housing in the nearest urban area (Van der Watt and Marais 2019). Despite these attempts, several company towns still exist and their living conditions are better than those in normalised and open towns (Cole and Broadhurst 2020). ...
In August 2012, the South African police shot 34 mineworkers at Marikana outside Rustenburg. The mineworkers had been involved in a dispute with Lonmin about their wages, work environment and living conditions. It took this tragedy to focus the world’s attention on the intersection between the mines and the community in the South African platinum belt. It is now nearly a decade since the Marikana massacre. This book takes stock of the changes since then.
South Africa provides a concrete case for investigating global debates on mining and cities and the conflict that often arises in these cities. Though not now as big as it was in its heyday, South Africa’s mining sector nevertheless contributes 7% of GDP and provides 400,000 jobs (Chamber of Mines, 2017) to a country with an unemployment rate of 29.1% in 2019. South Africa provides about 80% of the world’s platinum, a large percentage of which is used in catalytic converters to reduce CO2 emission by petrol-driven vehicles.
The future of platinum mining in Rustenburg is under threat because of the rise of electric cars and the cost of underground mining in the area. Many of the new platinum mines to the north of Rustenburg are open cast mines where production is mechanised and cheaper. Other influences on Rustenburg are the increased global nature and neoliberal thinking in the mining industry. Labour practices have also changed. With mining increasingly dependent on shift work and contract work, outsourcing has changed the face of Rustenburg. The mining companies have transferred their historical responsibilities for housing and health to the government and the mineworkers. Relationships between the mines and the community are in flux, with resulting social, environmental and health concerns. Most worryingly, in their engagement with communities the companies seldom consider the consequences of mine decline and closure.
This book investigates the consequences of the shifting social responsibilities, new inequalities and sustainability concerns created by this neoliberal phase and asks what will happen in the likely case of mine decline and closure and whether there have been improvements since Marikana.
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... The United Nations developed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which included 17 SDGs and 169 specific goals (Xie et al., 2021); these goals have been adopted by countries and corporates across the world (Cole et al., 2021). Food Waste and Loss reduction is enshrined in the SDG 12, specifically in goal 12.3, which "calls for halving per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels and reducing food loss along production and supply chains, including post-harvest loss, by 2030". ...
Several initiatives have been proposed to address food waste and loss issues and support stakeholders throughout the food chain. However, the literature still lacks a review paper that compiles methods, practices, and solutions to reduce food waste and loss. With the goal of filling this gap, this paper aims to compile and gather food waste and loss prevention and minimization methods to support decision-makers and other stakeholders along the food chain. Through a systematic literature review, we have outlined research findings and empirical studies on food waste and loss prevention and minimization methods previously published, studied, implemented, and discussed in the scientific literature worldwide. A sample of 84 articles was analyzed. As a result, this study provides a bibliometric analysis of the sample and a classification of the prevention and minimization methods found in the articles in 10 fields established by the authors. A coverage analysis of empirical studies was also performed, cross-checking the data with the type of food extracted from the case studies application. Lastly, suggestions of future research extracted from the articles were compiled into a research agenda to indicate trends and support academics, researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders involved in the food chain to develop and study practices to minimize and prevent food waste and loss. The main contribution of this study is an inventory of the theoretical and practical methods of prevention and minimization of food waste and loss found in the literature, grouping them according to their similarities, to support stakeholders improving actions to reduce food waste in cities, farms, retail, and other sustainable ecosystems.
Despite the importance that industrial activities have to society, for some years certain corporative sectors, such as mining, have faced strong criticism from various circles of global public opinion. This has hampered important industrial projects, generating great economic losses for companies and regions. While some localized studies indicate that in specific areas negative impacts of mining have been greater than positive ones, other analyzes highlight the opportunities for regional development that mining projects executed under the principles of sustainability represents. This work is based on the premise—according to definition of sustainability adopted here—that for a project to successfully contribute to the sustainable development of a region, it must ensure that its positive impacts last in the long term beyond project closure. Thus, it is crucial that companies can assess the potential of their sustainability activities to produce that kind of impacts. Through this work, Conceptual Sieving is presented as a tool for this type of analysis. Moreover, a pilot application is made to five mining projects located in Colombia. At the end, the results obtained from this application are discussed.
Growing global concern over the impacts of climate change, attributable largely to fossil fuel energy sources, has led to the widely shared goal for a 'just transition' to cleaner energy and reduced dependence on carbon-based fuels. As the world's 14th biggest CO2 emitter and being particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, South Africa must embark on a just transition pathway. This paper reviews expected coal mine closures and associated community vulnerabilities and local governance challenges in South Africa. Decommissioning schedules for all coal-fired power stations and operating coal mines are plotted, and 69 mining host communities and 21 municipalities are mapped, classified, and described. Community socioeconomic profiles are measured using a set of SDG indicators and census data and municipalities assessed through financial audits. Our research shows that five coal-fired power plants (8.9 GW) and 15 coal mines (29.5 Mt/a) will probably close by 2030, and a further four plants (14 GW) and 23 mines (106 Mt/a) by 2040. Thus, the shift to cleaner energy will likely occur without the premature closures implied by the just transition. The impact of mine closure on the 2.5 million residents of host communities will be significant, particularly as levels of income, employment, and education are already very low and many municipalities are in financial distress. The South African approach to the just transition needs to take local realities into account and the narrative must support an effective transition that does not undermine energy security and economic growth.
This paper aims at exploring the institutional pressures and accountability processes in pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in indigenous oil companies in Ghana. Applying a qualitative research strategy, semi‐structured interviews with 20 company managers and other industry stakeholders were used to collect in‐depth and rich empirical data. In pursuit of the SDG agenda, the indigenous oil companies appear to be sensitive to both internal and external stakeholder pressure. However, the coercive pressures from regulators did not always result in the companies implementing actual change. Instead, coercive pressures from non‐governmental actors have taken on the role of ‘regulator’ of organisational practices. Also, internal forces of change were mainly the foreign partner's audit pressure and management commitment to enhance company reputation. Beyond the institutional pressures to incorporate SDGs into business practices, the finding adds fresh perspectives to the three logical steps of SDG accountability processes used by the companies to track their contribution to SDG implementation and reporting, namely: data collection, SDG performance measurement, and communication of SDG outcomes. Finally, the study discovers that the companies are making little progress towards the achievement of the SDGs because of financial limitations, rigid organisational environments that prevent change, and a lack of a standardised institutional framework. The findings suggest that in order for an organisation to gain legitimacy, its SDG agenda must incorporate the concerns of non‐governmental actors and local communities into its corporate decision‐making. Failure to meet the needs of these essential stakeholders may jeopardise the legitimacy of organisation which will threaten its survival.
div> Indonesia has enacted a number of regulations dealing with issues of mining governance, and governance. However, the issuance of these various laws and regulations has resulted in illegal mining crimes resulting in environmental damage. The purpose of this study is to analyze sustainable mining governance policies in Indonesia, Africa and Germany. This research method uses a doctrinal legal approach. Resources have been compiled through an examination of mineral and coal mining laws and regulations, governance and environmental governance regulations, as well as reports from various authorities on the same subject. The results of this study show how Indonesia's previous mining law policies recognized local governments as the authority for licensing and monitoring mining activities. This policy was revoked based on the latest governance regulations and had an impact on the vacancy in monitoring mining activities at the district/city level, as a result of this vacancy there was environmental damage due to illegal mining and bad mining activities so that it was necessary to strengthen government policies in monitoring mineral and coal mining. Mining governance policies in Indonesia, Africa and Germany are currently starting to lead to environmental sustainability.
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Currently, at the global and regional (national) levels, the expert community, as well as statesmen, have prioritized the task of practical implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (characterizing the dynamics of a development of various parameters of socio-ecological and economic systems). Achieving these goals requires serious analytical work based on a deep and comprehensive analysis of a processes taking place in various spheres, as well as the formation of an appropriate information platform, including a set of databases that adequately describe changes taking place in various spheres of state activity. However, today, in Russian practice, this tool is practically absent, which significantly complicates the qualitative and quantitative analysis, assessment and forecasting of the processes of adaptation of Russian regions (including the population living in them) to consequences of global climate change. The purpose of this study is to form a database of indicators characterizing process of adaptation of socio-ecological and economic systems of a northern regions of Western Siberia (The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) to global climate change. The projected database should become the basis for creating an open information resource for a wide range of users when they solve analytical and predictive tasks related to a socio-economic assessment of an impact of global climate warming on permafrost. To achieve the objectives of the study, a set of methods was used: theoretical generalization and comparison, formalization, algorithmization, structuring and grouping, economic and statistical methods (including correlation and regression analysis), cartographic method, graphical modeling method. As a result, we have formed a database representing a single, periodically updated repository containing spatio-temporal data sets characterizing processes and phenomena, on the one hand, socio-ecological and economic systems, on the other – climate change. Further work with the database assumes, on the basis of available quantitative data and methods of mathematical statistics, the identification of elements of the ecological, socio-economic systems of the KhMAO and YaNAO vulnerable to global climate change, as well as forecasting the dynamics of their (systems) transformation.
The mining sector’s share in South Africa’s economy has declined over the past 30 years, as has employment on the gold mines. Yet many new mining areas have developed. Mining growth has been driven primarily by platinum and coal, with iron ore and other metals contributing. Of South Africa’s 39 ‘small’ or ‘secondary’ cities, 19 have or have had substantial mining economies. Whether growing and declining, they have experienced a rapid increase in informal housing, service backlogs, pressure on municipal finances, and social disruption. We assess these trends in these cities against a background of the literature on boomtowns and referring to evolutionary governance theory. We examine both local and national government responses and policies. Our sources are census and economic data, audited municipal financial statements, and crime statistics. We suggest that investigating the social disruption associated with mining decline should be the sixth phase of boomtown research. We argue that mining town planning should avoid creating long-term dependencies and focus instead on creating flexibility. Questions should be asked about the uncritical way government policy links mining and development. A more careful approach should be followed and alternative approaches to mine housing should be considered
The industrial sector plays a vital role in economic development; therefore, there is a necessity to integrate sustainability into industrial development to maintain the economy and avoid any degradation impacts on the environment, and thereafter on society. Thus, do Bahraini companies have sustainability reports and if so, are these reports based on GRI guidelines? Has the status of their sustainability reports been analyzed? This research aims to examine the sustainability reports of companies by analyzing the status of sustainability aspects in their materiality matrices to assist in identifying and prioritizing the most significant sustainability issues for advancement in their future reporting and to improve their environmental performance. This study employs a content analysis approach and analyzes 11 reports from the period 2016–2020 for three companies in Bahrain’s large industrial sector. The study reveals that the companies using materiality analysis in their reporting benefit from better monitoring and measuring of their environmental performance, and from implementing SDGs. Furthermore, the study indicates that the utilization of a materiality matrix as a reporting tool can define and improve report contents by considering stakeholders’ views, consequently, improving the quality of the sustainability reports. The study concludes by proposing a set of recommendations.
Insertion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into higher education is an important concern. This article aims to address the influences of SDGs in higher and engineering educational system in Egypt. The present study focuses on SDGs 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 11. SDG 3 is related to occupational health and SDG 4 is related to higher education development. However, SDGs 6, 7, 9, and 11 are related to both mechanical and environmental engineering, and occupational safety. The study approach involves case risk analysis, investigations, and review for design concepts of occupational health and safety before and after the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A number of cross-sectional studies that constitute 125 multidisciplinary research plans (MDRPs) are grouped to monitor and evaluate two main factors which are an influence of involving SDGs into engineering education and selected curriculum of occupational health and safety. Then the results of these research-based studies, which performed over four academic years started from 2017 up to date 2021, are depicted and discussed. These results reveal the importance of interlink between engineering education and the intended SDGs. The latest 25 MDRPs demonstrate that Egypt response to alleviate the COVID-19 is rapidly pronounced specially on SDGs 3 and 4 simultaneously. However, those MDRPs show that neither record impacts nor delays on SDGs 6, 7, 9 and 11. The conclusions prioritize both the advanced educational mechanisms and verify the engineering curriculums to raise awareness of SDGs among both staff members and students in Egyptian universities. Finally, future work is recommended at the end of this article to focus on each specific goal to gain deep insight to state of the art for each SDG around globe using education development.
Mapping Artisanal and Small-scale Mining to the Sustainable Development Goals (in short: ASM-SDG Policy Assessment) is the first report assessing all positive and negative relationships between artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It analyses the relationships between the two, and provides concrete guidance to policymakers, donors and private partners for harnessing ASM-SDG interlinkages and unlocking the sector’s full sustainabfqqfle development potential.
The Policy Assessment was authored by Jorden de Haan (Pact), Kirsten Dales (University of British Colombia) and Dr James McQuilken (Pact), in collaboration with Professor Saleem Ali, University of Delaware.
Mining provides inputs for other industrial sectors that are vital for sustaining population wellbeing and the functioning of global economies. At the same time, it can generate social and environmental impacts, which could compromise public acceptance of the sector. Given this twofold role in human society, the improvement of the sustainability performance is a very important objective both for industry and for the European policy, willing to boost a sustainable supply of raw materials. In various contexts, social impacts of mining are assessed with different sets of indicators and targets. In this study we perform a review of the associated literature, identify a list of typical social impacts occurring in the sector, and explore their geographical distribution. The list of identified impacts is compared against the indicators used for assessing and promoting sustainability in different contexts and at different scales: (i) the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), (ii) the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), (iii) the EU policy making through the analysis of the Better Regulation policy and three impact assessment reports, and (iv) the databases used in Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA). Land use-related impacts and environmental impacts affecting human health and human rights appear to be the most concerning social aspects in the mining sector. Benefits from income and employment are, instead, the main positive impacts identified in the screened literature. The paper compares the different indicator sets used in the above-mentioned frameworks with the list of impacts emerged from the literature review. Working conditions and human rights are well-covered aspects in the indicator lists. Main differences concern demographic changes and migration due to the presence of a mine and land use-related impacts, which are described in literature and partially covered in other schemes. A challenge for sustainability assessment is the evaluation of the mining sector's contribution to society, beyond the mere economic value added, and in general the assessment of positive impacts.
The importance of measuring inequalities in sustainable development is reflected in the requirement to disag-gregate national data for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this paper, piped water access, water use and water stress are mapped and reported at national, provincial, district, municipal, town and ward levels, and urban and rural areas. The results show that although 45% of the population has water access in their dwelling this ranges from 0.07% to 100% at ward level, with a high level of inequality (Gini index of 0.36). National per capita water use is 208 litres per person per day (l/c/d) but ranges from 8 l/c/d to 2,414 l/c/d at town level, with a Gini index of 0.27. The analysis shows that social factors, such as water access and income, and not natural factors, such as rainfall or runoff, have the greatest influence on per capita water use. The paper provides the first in-depth analysis of per capita water use at the local level across South Africa and suggests new water indicators that could support equitable allocation of water resources and SDG reporting.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set targets for all nations in the most important areas of human development, as well as environmental protection and climate change for the period 2015–2030. This viewpoint discusses how mining companies can contribute to the implementation of SDGs through developing region-specific approaches to sustainable development. It argues that investment and cross-sector collaboration for the provision of collective goods such as health, education and infrastructure should be the main focus of the sustainable development policies of the mining companies operating in developing countries. We believe that academics and practitioners could further develop indicators to measure the progress of industry towards the SDGs and devise innovative solutions that link these to mining sector operations. Further research into mineral production at the national level can extend the understanding about the implications of sustainable development for mineral commodities, mines and mineral enterprises.
The focus of mining project feasibility studies and operations is still on short‐term profitability with little view to a post‐closure landscape and liability. The faults of both the original and the operation's mine planners are therefore vested upon the closure teams who must deal with these planning decisions. Following completion of operations, most mining companies that have not adequately prepared for mine closure will face an inability to relinquish their project leases as a result of closure planning process shortfalls. Following from our own closure project experiences and of recent international mine closure conferences, we propose seven key lessons still to be learned if successful mine closure is to be achieved. Firstly, a paucity of baseline environmental monitoring data often incapacitates good closure planning from the outset with a failure to understand key closure risks and risk drivers for the site. Well‐characterised environmental information prior to mining disturbance and monitored progressive rehabilitation is a great strategy to address this fault. An insufficient understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics and volumes of waste materials is a second critical fault of closure processes. A third significant issue is contaminated mine waters such as acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD). AMD is arguably one of the single biggest liabilities and management issue post‐closure. Failure to engage stakeholders in a documented process is a fourth prime failing often seen with the fifth of mine closure procrastination. Like all of these causes, this problem often arises from thinking mine closure is an activity at end of life‐of‐mine rather than as a process that begins with the initial mine plan and then regularly continues throughout mine life. Diligent attention to regular planning assessment and stakeholder consultation from an early operational phase may fend off later criticisms, lead to closure outcomes better directed by years of underpinning work and also reduce end of mine costs. A sixth significant closure planning error is the failure to account for the long temporal scales that closure planning must accommodate, particularly so when costing closure. This failure is often due to closure views being short‐term, to meet immediate regulatory and operational planning needs rather than focussed on the future. A seventh lesson from historic closure planning is the simple failure to have clear closure objectives and approaches to identified outcomes. This may result in a focus on technical studies that fail to provide better closure understanding, whilst expending hard‐won closure‐aimed budgets. Driving closure planning by well‐defined goals through corporate tools such as closure standards designed to meet both internal requirements and relevant closure guidelines is an ideal solution to avoiding wasted closure resources such as time and finances. Whilst learning and addressing these key closure lessons is no guarantee of successful relinquishment, recognition of these issues and judicious planning to overcome them is more likely to present well‐considered closure plans with greater chance of closure relinquishment in a sustainable socio‐environmentally manner that maintains a company's and the broader mining industry's licence to operate into the future.
The copper mines in the Okiep district of Namaqualand are steeped in the history of South African mining and geology. The most famous mineral specimen-producing copper mine in the district was the Jan Coetzee mine, where several thousand quartz specimens were collected in 1966. Excellent specimens of chalcopyrite, fluorite, calcite, gypsum and chalcocite have been collected from other mines in the district such as Nababeep West and Okiep.
This paper presents an insight into water service access and demand, with a numerical review of official data from the national household survey from 1995 to 2006, and the 1996 and 2001 census data. The findings show that in provinces (Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga) where the existing service base is low, with a relatively high level of outmigration leading to a decrease in household numbers, the annual rate of delivery is lower than in other areas and percentage access has risen marginally (from about 68% to 70%). In provinces (North West, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal) where the existing service base is higher, with relatively lower levels of out-migration, there is a marginal change in household numbers and the annual rate of delivery is higher and percentage access has risen remarkably (from about 72% to 88%). In the provinces (Gauteng, Western Cape and Free State) with the most favourable initial conditions, that is, where the existing service base is the highest, there is a remarkable change in household numbers, possibly as a result of in-migration and the annual rate of delivery is quite sustainable. Percentage access rises at an early stage and remains stable at the limiting value of about 98%.
Renewable energy requires infrastructures built with metals whose extraction requires more and more energy. More mining is unavoidable, but increased recycling, substitution and careful design of new high-tech devices will help meet the growing demand.
This article examines Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and mining community development, sustainability and viability. These issues are considered focussing on current and former company-owned mining towns in Namibia. Historically company towns have been a feature of mining activity in Namibia. However, the fate of such towns upon mine closure has been and remains controversial. Declining former mining communities and even ghost mining towns can be found across the country. This article draws upon research undertaken in Namibia and considers these issues with reference to three case study communities. This article examines the complexities which surround decision-making about these communities, and the challenges faced in efforts to encourage their sustainability after mining. In this article, mine company engagements through CSR with the development, sustainability and viability of such communities are also critically discussed. The role, responsibilities, and actions of the state in relation to these communities are furthermore reflected upon. Finally, ways forward for these communities are considered.
There is increasing international pressure to ensure that mining development is aligned with local and national development objectives. In South Africa, legislation requires mining companies to produce Social and Labour Plans, which are aimed at addressing local developmental concerns. Against the background of the new mining legislation in South Africa, this paper evaluates attempts to address mine downscaling in the Free State Goldfields over the past two decades. The analysis shows that despite an improved legislative environment, the outcomes in respect of integrated planning are disappointing, owing mainly to a lack of trust and government incapacity to enact the new legislation. It is argued that legislative changes and a national response in respect of mine downscaling are required.
Mine downscaling is a common international phenomenon; and the deindustrialisation related to mining that occurred in the global north between 1960 and 1990 has been the focus of numerous studies. Mine downscaling in Africa, and more specifically in South Africa, has only risen to prominence in the last two decades. This paper examines the consequences of mine downscaling in the Free State Goldfields of South Africa, against the background of similar impacts in the international arena. Although many of the experiences recorded in the case study mirror the international experience, it is argued that it is probably unrealistic to expect local attempts alone to address mine downscaling, since the magnitude of such downscaling, as described in the paper, is too vast. Subsequently, the paper argues in favour of local partnerships, but with a national strategy for locations that have been affected by the impact of mine downscaling.
Water is essential to all life, and, in their Global Risks Report 2017, the World Economic Forum rates the current water crisis as one of the top five global risks. Access to a secure and stable water supply is also critical to all mining operations, many of which occur in water-stressed areas. In South Africa, water security risks are compounded by the fact that mines frequently occur in close proximity to human settlements, and it is thus critical to consider other users such as communities and the environment when using and managing water. This paper outlines case studies that show how mining companies in South Africa are realizing the benefits of public-private partnerships in terms of securing their own water supply, whilst contributing to the sustainable development of the communities in which they operate by promoting access to clean water and participating in water conservation and infrastructure development. Whilst these case studies show that mining companies can play a crucial role in regional water supply, the challenges are significant and complex. In South Africa, the Mine Water Coordinating Body, established in 2016 and active since early 2017, brings together mining organizations and government departments to collectively address these challenges and find solutions to the complex regulatory, institutional and financial barriers to improve mine water management and reuse.
Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) provides a source of livelihood for millions of mostly poor people across the globe. At the same time, however, the sector is predominantly informal and associated with a range of persistent social and environmental challenges, including chronic poverty, deforestation, land degradation, mercury pollution and river siltation. The ASM sector is connected to all the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in ways which both support and undermine their achievement. Attention, therefore, is growing on how the sector can shape, and be shaped by, the pursuit of the SDGs. This paper aims to articulate the linkages and interactions between ASM and the SDGs to inform ongoing debates about how to address the sector's social and environmental impacts. The review engages with three key, and closely related, issues that are central to determining the potential for synergies to emerge between ASM and the SDGs. These are: 1) the large-scale bias in mining policy; 2) debates around formalisation; and 3) knowledge. It is argued that the SDGs, their 169 targets and 232 indicators, and the state and corporate driven processes behind their development serve to exacerbate the large-scale bias; promote an approach to formalisation that risks marginalising the poorest and entrenching inequality, and; privilege techno-scientific knowledge at the expense of studies which examine the governance systems that actually dictate who, where, how and why people engage with ASM, knowledge that is essential for effective policy design. The review concludes that the prospects for the SDGs contributing positively to efforts to address environmental and social issues in ASM are poor. Worryingly, similar arguments apply across a range of important sectors, such as forestry and agriculture, where informality and poverty are also widespread. Raising the prospects for the SDGs requires focussing less on measuring whether or not particular indicators are met but rather on understanding what such goal-setting governance systems actually do with respect to the lives of their intended beneficiaries and the environments they inhabit. Such an understanding can inform strategies to resist the more pernicious effects of ostensibly unobjectionable global sustainability agendas.
In order to measure progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the mining industry, it is necessary to identify the host communities that are directly influenced by mining operations. This is also a requirement of Social and Labour Plans (SLPs) required of mining companies in South Africa to ensure mining contributes to socio-economic development. This paper provides the first comprehensive mapping and classification of all 84 mining host communities (cities, towns and villages) in South Africa that are directly influenced by large-scale mining. The communities are home to 5.4 million people, more than 10% of the national population, and are found mostly in coal, gold, platinum and diamond mining areas. They are classified into four categories based on their population size and the level of influence of mining on each community, calculated using five quantifiable parameters. This classification of communities indicates where mine closure could have significant impact on the local economy, and is relevant for SDG monitoring, designing SLPs and development planning on a local and national level. The methodology for classifying mining communities developed here could be used in any country with a large-scale mining industry that wants mining to make a positive contribution to socio-economic development.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have, since 2015, become the normative framework driving global development discourse. The international development community has since taken comprehensive action to mobilise resources in a bid to operationalise these Goals, and there is growing recognition in both policy and public discourse that the private sector can assist in this endeavour. Drawing on data from interviews conducted with community beneficiaries and key informants, we explore the specific case of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives taken in the mining and telecommunications sectors in Ghana in their bid to operationalise the SDGs. What is abundantly clear is that while the CSR initiatives of the private sector hold some potential to contribute to the attainment of a number of the SDGs, the short-term nature of interventions, the lack of coordination between private sector actors and meaningful community participation, stand to limit this potential. We conclude by outlining key lessons for those seeking to maximise the potential of CSR initiatives of the private sector to advance the attainment of SDGs.
This paper explains how formalizing and supporting artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labor-intensive mineral processing and extraction – would help governments in sub-Saharan Africa meet several targets linked the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While most of the men and women found working in ASM in the region choose to operate without the requisite permits and are rarely monitored or regulated, the local impacts of their activities are significant. After examining the long historical trajectory that has relegated most ASM activities in sub-Saharan Africa to the informal economy, three of the sector’s more obvious economic impacts are reviewed: its contribution to regional mineral outputs; how operations create employment opportunities for millions of people directly, and millions more in the downstream and upstream industries they spawn; and the links the sector has with subsistence agriculture, dynamics which have important implications for food security and gender equality. These contributions alone are sufficient justification for featuring ASM more prominently in the plans, policies and programs being launched in sub-Saharan Africa to help host governments meet their commitments to the SDGs.
We argue that the prevailing business model within the mining sector is no longer fit-for-purpose. Despite the myriad of technical challenges facing the sector, the ability to meet social expectations has emerged as the sector’s leading risk to future business. This change in operating context will demand a new business model that supports the effective management of both high social and technical complexity through creating, capturing and delivering value to a broad range of stakeholders including local communities, rights-holders, shareholders and host governments. The prevailing business model of the mining sector is described and its deficiencies for this new operating context are identified. An alternative business model is proposed which would reframe the industry’s value proposition, using local procurement to illustrate how mining companies can leverage past successful business strategies to drive additional value.
Mineral and metals produced from mining are critical components of goods and services used in society and are required to support the transition to a low carbon future. Yet serious and unresolved questions about the economic, environmental and social outcomes of mining remain. This has resulted in a lack of trust in the mining industry’s ability to act in the best interests of society. In this viewpoint piece the opportunity for mining to rebuild trust by working collaboratively with others to advance the agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is discussed. It is argued that business strategy is required to secure the SDGs and that the economic management strategy “creating shared value” could help mining establish a framework for identifying opportunities to improve socio-economic outcomes and related core business performance. Challenges to implementing the strategy are explored and three examples, mapped retrospectively to the SDGs, are offered to illustrate the potential of creating shared value as business strategy for mining companies to rebuild their social contract.
Mining companies worldwide have been prime movers in the creation of mining towns. Though these towns are of many kinds, all over the world they are going through a similar process of “normalisation” – freeing themselves from their mother companies. This paper compares the way mining towns in three countries, Australia, Canada and South Africa, have been shaped by changes in production processes and changes in company and government policies. We look at how the local communities are involved and how they respond to the requirements of “open” towns. We note the difficulties that mining towns experience in dealing with both boom and bust cycles. Non-permanent settlement in mining towns has become the dominant trend in Australia and Canada, but South African policy, embedded in a history of migrant labour, promotes permanent settlement. Our analysis brings to light the complexity of the factors that have influenced mining towns, including globalisation, corporate decision making, political ideology and government policy for state welfare and citizens’ rights. It underlines the need for a more nuanced understanding of the places and the communities that mining creates and what their future holds and concludes with a series of recommendations for communities and authorities dealing with change.
The history of the Bekkersdal Township on the Far West Rand, located in the Westonaria Municipal region, as it is known since 2015, dates back to the post-World War II years when the township was formally established in 1949. After 65 years of existence, and inclusive of an extended informal surrounding township, the still expanding informal settlements currently challenge local infrastructural initiatives to their limits. News reports of dissatisfaction about service delivery and a politicising of perceived frustrations regarding service delivery – like those at Bekkersdal – appear to ignore the history of the region all too easily. As a consequence, it allows for expressing reality only halfway, which may sometimes cause it to be transformed into fiction of which a nagging narrative repeats itself continually, yet with no progress or turn in sight. By means of archival research, open interviews and a thorough reflection on newspaper reports, the authors aim to reflect on the history of Bekkersdal against the background of this statement. Aspects of the service delivery history of Bekkersdal will be highlighted and related to the political focus, politics and a politicising of the day. Bekkersdal’s history will also be touched upon against the backdrop of the gold mining developments in the region in the heyday of apartheid. It will also be pointed out that, even in 2015, the region is still very much in a colonial mode as far as land occupation and limitations in local government empowerment within a central government authority are concerned.
To a set of well-regarded international scenarios (UNEP’s GEO-4), we have added consideration of the demand, supply, and energy implications related to copper production and use over the period 2010–2050. To our knowledge, these are the first comprehensive metal supply and demand scenarios to be developed. We find that copper demand increases by between 275 and 350% by 2050, depending on the scenario. The scenario with the highest prospective demand is not Market First (a “business as usual” vision), but Equitability First, a scenario of transition to a world of more equitable values and institutions. These copper demands exceed projected copper mineral resources by mid-century and thereafter. Energy demand for copper production also demonstrates strong increases, rising to as much as 2.4% of projected 2050 overall global energy demand. We investigate possible policy responses to these results, concluding that improving the efficiency of the copper cycle and encouraging the development of copper-free energy distribution on the demand side, and improving copper recycling rates on the supply side are the most promising of the possible options. Improving energy efficiency in primary copper production would lead to a reduction in the energy demand by 0.5% of projected 2050 overall global energy demand. In addition, encouraging the shift towards renewable technologies is important to minimize the impacts associated with copper production.
In the absence of a levelling out of income and resources, as well as arbitrary violence in everyday life, the post-apartheid social order is characterised by the formation of various enclaves. In the platinum mining town of Rustenburg, these enclaves are constructed on the foundations of the apartheid categories ‘suburb’, ‘compound’, ‘township’ and ‘homeland’. Such enclaves include security villages, converted compounds with access control, and informal settlements with distinctive gender, linguistic and class formations. The article draws on David Harvey's formulation of absolute, relative and relational space and the case of Rustenburg to elaborate the concept of enclave further.[L’enclave Rustenburg : la mine de platine et l’ordre social post-apartheid.] En l’absence d’un nivellement des revenus et ressources, en plus d’une violence arbitraire dans la vie de tous les jours, l’ordre social post-apartheid est caractérisé par la formation de différentes enclaves. Dans la ville des mines de platine de Rustenburg, ces enclaves sont construites sur les fondations des catégories de l’apartheid « suburb » (ou banlieue), « compound » (habitations dans un enclos), « township » (bidonville) et « homeland » (bantoustans ou foyers nationaux). Ces enclaves comprennent des villages sécurisés, des compounds convertis avec un contrôle d’accès, et des implantations informelles avec des formations distinctives de genre, de langue et de classe. L’article se base sur la formulation de David Harvey de l’espace absolu, relatif et relationnel et sur le cas de Rustenburg pour détailler davantage le concept de l’enclave.
The settlements that spring up around mines have huge environmental, social and economic consequences.
The environmental consequences have been well studied, but less attention has been paid to
the social and economic consequences, particularly the effects of mine closure on what are often
significant urban settlements which grew up around them. This paper relates the history of the urban
centers of the Free State Goldfields and draws lessons for questions of economic and social sustainability
in mining settlements. We argue that the rushed way the mining settlements in the area
established, the emphasis on modernity in their planning and the over-arching context of decentralized
planning under apartheid did not lay the right foundations for dealing with the long-term effects of
mine closure. We highlight the way that booming commodity prices can hinder economic diversification.
The paper concludes with some recommendations for new mine settlements.
Laymen picture Carletonville as a prosperous mining town, associated with sinkholes. Although both impressions are part of Carletonville's history, they do not fully represent the present picture. Sinkholes, for example, are very low on the list of concerns, although visible signs will always remind those who have been personally affected by a period they would prefer to forget.
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