De Beers Venetia Mine is hosting Community Fairs in Blouberg and Musina this week as part of the mine’s strategy to improve engagement with the mining communities at grassroots level.
According to Jackie Mapiloko, Corporate Communications Manager at De Beers Consolidated Mines the first fair was to be held in Eldorado Stadium, Blouberg on Tuesday, the second at Alldays Stadium yesterday (Wednesday) and culminate at Madimbo Stadium, Musina tomorrow (Friday).
The fairs are designed to bring communities closer to Venetia Mine and highlight opportunities in key socio-economic development focus areas such as local procurement, supplier and enterprise development, local employment and community skills development, as well as corporate social investment.
From January to date the mine has awarded 14 new three-year contracts of over R90 million to local suppliers within its labour sending areas. During the same period, the mine has spent R15 million on their existing local suppliers. The mine currently has 20 local suppliers participating in their supplier development programme.
Through the De Beers Zimele initiative, Venetia mine supports small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) by assisting them in accessing low interest loan funding and free mentorship. Since its inception in 2011, De Beers Zimele has funded 59 SMMEs and created 812 jobs in Limpopo.
In a statement released by the mine on Monday, General Manager for Venetia Mine, Gerrie Nortje, was quoted to have expressed his eagerness to engaging directly with the targeted communities in ensuring continuous and effective management of the mine’s social contributions. “We are passionate about our communities and I’m looking forward to engaging with them directly to share with them the current and future opportunities from the mine and with our contracting partners. We fully appreciate our role in making a lasting and positive contribution to the communities in which we operate,” the statement read.
With the US$2 billion Venetia Underground Project (VUP) expected to extend the life of the mine to 2045, Venetia mine is set to leave a lasting legacy for communities of Musina and Blouberg.
Through the VUP, the mine will support 8 000 jobs directly and a further 5 000 through the supply chain which will benefit both the Musina and South African economy. “Employing and developing the skills and talents of local people are among the most important ways we contribute to the long-term development of our communities and we hope that we will continue doing that through the Venetia Underground Project,” Nortje reportedly said.
To further improve engagement with communities, Venetia Mine is intending to establish a Community Development Forum in the Blouberg and Musina communities with representation from all the villages and towns from the mine’s labour sending areas, local councils, municipalities, as well as traditional leaders. “We believe that such a forum will provide a strong mechanism to explore collaboration, drive integration and build understanding among all our stakeholders,” said Nortje.
Mapiloko informed that the Community Development Forum, further aims to discuss the needs of the communities and prioritise them accordingly, identify emerging community issues at an early stage and deal with them proactively; share experiences, document progress, and note improvements where required, ensure greater flow of information, and actively pursue viable partnerships for sustainable development.
“The Community Fairs this week will be in partnership with De Beers’ major contracting partners such as Murray and Roberts Cementation, Basil Read, and Barloworld. Community members will get to visit different exhibition stalls showcasing various programmes, initiatives, jobs, and training opportunities,” Mapiloko stressed.
Story: Herbert Rachuene
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