Implats: Community unhappy over ‘nonadherence to equity procurement’

While part of their lush land is leased to the platinum group metals-rich Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats) operations, the Bafokeng community of rural Luka village in the North West, mirror the country’s poverty in a sea of mining wealth.

Despite Implats having budgeted billions of rands for local community development – in line with the Mining Charter – residents of Luka daily wake up to poorly maintained dusty streets with potholes, in a neighbourhood with a high level of unemployment.

Some residents – like unemployed mother of five Jeanette Lesenyeko – live in shacks and solely depending on the measly government child support grant to survive.

Hailed as one of SA’s most “important mechanisms” for promoting the much-needed transformation in the mining sector – covering ownership, mine community development, preferential procurement, beneficiation, house and living conditions; human resource development and employment equity – Lesenyeko and other members of the poverty-stricken Luka community, claim not to have reaped any benefits of the Mining Charter.

When The Citizen visited Luka to engage with locals, residents expressed more despair than hope, with their living conditions far below what could be desired from a land accommodating one of the world’s leading platinum producers.

Several taverns far outnumbered what the community wished for – clinics, schools, infrastructure, public amenities and employment.

Her informal dwelling, situated much closer to an Implats mining shaft – with only a road separating it from a mining operation – Lesenyeko has for the past six years lived in a shack with four toddlers and an unemployed 27-year-old daughter.

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Inhaling smoke from the mine during blasting and drilling – leading to coughing, sneezing and headaches – has been her only experience of staying on land shared with the multi-billion-rand worth Implats mining operation.

“I have nothing good to say about the mine, except inhaling smoke during blasting and drilling,” she said.

“We suffer from coughing, sneezing and sometimes headaches.

“My shack is shaking and we can hear the sound of blasting. No one has ever bothered to come here and hear about our living conditions.

“While they are making a lot of money through mining in the area, this mine has never shown that it cares for the people of Luka.

“We don’t mind Impala’s mining operations, as long as they take care of the community,” said Lesenyeko.

Her experience has been shared by other residents in close proximity to the mine, some of whom have complained about cracked walls.

Preferential procurement contained in the Mining Charter – compelling mining houses to empower local black-owned businesses, by ensuring the enlisting of their services – has also become another area of contention between community-based companies and Implats in Luka.

Waging a struggle for Impala to “meaningfully” offer business opportunities to companies owned by local residents,

Letlhogonolo Mogopodi of the Bafokeng North-A Economic Forum (Banaef), has had several engagements with Implats top management and the Royal Bafokeng Enterprise Development, to express community unhappiness about the company’s “non-adherence to the charter”.

In the latest attempt to get the plight of Luka community-community-based businesses addressed, Mogopodi has written to one of Implats shareholders – the Public Investment Corporation, which is entrusted with managing trillions of public pension funds.

While Mogopodi has praised Sibanye Stillwater and the Royal Bafokeng Platinum for implementing the principles of the Mining Charter by empowering locally-based black-owned businesses, he could not say the same about Impala.

Mogopodi has shared documents with The Citizen – demonstrating that black-owned contractors were being “driven to the periphery of real business” – claiming to have lost a contract to replace mining pumps to a white-owned company.

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Banaef serves the interests of 72 black-owned member companies based in Luka.

“We have a lot of socio-economic issues that affect us as business and as a community in terms of the Mining Charter – mine community development and preferential procurement – not being adhered to by Implats,” said Mogopodi.

“We have seen business opportunities slipping away from us and going into white-owned companies.”

The charter, said Mogopodi, called for an equity equivalent beneficiation, “but nothing of that sort is happening”.

“The forum exists because the mine does not want to do business with us.

“The company says we don’t have experience. In order for us to do business with the mine, we must go and get an experienced company – mainly white, which we do not mind.

“But, how do you explain having to do the same with the supply of water to the mine?

“To water to the mine, you must go and fetch a Van Tonder because he has the experience.

“Even the smallest of non-technical service, you are required to have expertise – otherwise they won’t accept you as a service provider.

“There is no enterprise development,” said Mogopodi.

According to documents seen by The Citizen, Banaef has recently engaged the Implats top management on their grievances.

 A letter dated 14 October, written by Banaef chair Juris Mekgwe to the mine, says: “Banaef has received information from whistle-blowers with untested information regarding senior management and their dedication to anti-transformation – their stance in suffocating some black-owned companies.

“This is in an effort to increase the work scope of favoured companies linked to management.

“This information is entirely not tested and hence we requested Implats to place necessary resources, as we will be embarking on a forensic audit against Mark Munroe, Jacques van Schalkwyk, Poena Prinsloo, Manie Prinsloo, Johan de Klerk and Daniel le Roux.”

Banaef has given Implats seven days to respond to its concerns, which included, that:

– All contractors falling outside tier 1, be merged with local small, micro and medium enterprises, for enterprise development purposes – and, if possible, partnerships be established.

– A forensic audit be conducted against Impala and implicated personnel should cooperate with the investigation.

– There must be a breakdown explanation of Implats’ R8.9 billion annual procurement spend, with local companies demanding participation in the R7.5 billion reserved for white companies.

– brians@citizen.co.za