Last Friday, one of Carletonville’s streets was blocked by a large group of people who have a problem with the mines in the area.
A large part of Palladium Street was blocked off when hundreds of people turned up to express their unhappiness at not being offered jobs by these mining houses. The office of Teba (The Employment Bureau of Africa) Limited, through which they applied for the jobs, is situated on this street.
Although the residents Z who originally wanted to take the matter up with the mines identified themselves as members of the MCCF (Merafong Concerned Community Forum), members of various political parties and other groupings attended the gathering on Friday.
By about 10:00, the street was packed with so many people that it had to be cordoned off.
Most of the protesters present claimed to have been trained in various mining-related skills but, despite this, have not been employed by any of the mines in the area.
According to one of the community leaders, Mr Jacob Gumede of the Merafong Crisis and Resource Development Committee, they want the mines in the area to become directly and practically involved in the upliftment of the local communities in various socioeconomic ways.
As part of this, they want them (the mines) to immediately employ 5 000 local residents.
According to Mr Abie Malefo of the MPPF (Merafong Progressive Partnership Forum), Friday’s action is part of a ‘robust economic development paradigm shift programme’ that will run throughout this year.
Another aspect of the programme involves government departments, institutions
and the municipality being brought in to give account on various community issues.
Friday’s gathering dispersed after a representative of Teba indicated that it could not speak on behalf of the mines and that the organisers of the gathering would have to schedule appointments with them, directly. Col Tommy Thompson tried to bring the communities and the mines together on behalf of the police in Carletonville but no
formal date for such a meeting was set at the time.
The community held another gathering about the same matter on Wednesday, however, and also marched to AngloGold Ashanti’s Tautona mine later that day.
Teba’s MD, Dr Graham Herbert, responded to questions about the gathering on Tuesday.
‘The MPPF alleged that Teba in Carletonville was taking bribes during our meeting on 17 February. Teba takes any such allegations very seriously and, at that meeting, requested the Forum to provide Teba with a statement, affidavits, case numbers or anything else that could assist in an investigation.
The Forum agreed to submit such evidence to us and the SAPS at the meeting but, to date, no such evidence has been provided.
The Forum continues to insist that Teba must arrange a meeting between them and the mines and that our office should remain closed until the meeting has been held.
‘This is an unreasonable request as Teba cannot force a meeting between them and the mines, or indeed between any other independent parties.
‘The SAPS has advised Teba to apply for a protection order to ensure the safety of its staff and the ongoing services to mineworkers and their families. Teba received an interim order today at 14:30. The bureau is grateful to the SAPS for their advice and is committed to working closely with the police. Teba values the role that the SAPS is playing in ensuring public safety in the area,’ Herbert responded.

Mining house responds to community’s issues

Sibanye Gold responded to the issues raised by the residents this week.
According to Sibanye’s spokesperson, Ms Santie Keyter, Sibanye’s recruitment policy guides the company to recruit for vacancies from local communities. From 2014 up to date, a total of 2 372 people from the local communities were engaged (this includes contractors); 48 per cent of the total number of community members are youth (aged 18 to 35). These engagements were done despite Sibanye having a moratorium on employment for the majority of this time period. Given that Sibanye’s purpose is that ‘our mining improves lives’, the company has focused on local economic development
as a key means of creating jobs and, therefore, we have initiated projects within the Merafong municipal area.
The following projects have been successfully implemented and constitute our initial effort to bring about positive economic change in the area: A Merafong waste management project was implemented in collaboration with the Merafong City Local Municipality and co-funded by other mining companies. The project created jobs
for 22 community members and about 250 indirect beneficiaries who participates
in collecting waste in return for compensation. The total investment in this project was R3.2 million.
Sibanye funded the newly built infrastructure for a community clinic in Blybank, near Driefontein operations and within the Merafong municipal area.
The project is intended to contribute to employment creation, community health and well-being. On average, 5 000 community members visit the clinic for primary health and antenatal care every quarter, including around 800 children under five years of age and around 450 patients visiting the clinic for family planning purposes.
The total investment in this projectwas R4,6 million.
Given that Sibanye has a limited number of job opportunities, local economic development will become the key focal area in order to create jobs. The associated enterprise development is intended to be the key mechanism to achieve this and will
continue to be rolled out, going forward.
Mr Chris Nthite of AngloGold Ashanti said AGA would respond in full to the problems next week. Harmony Gold also commented after printing time. Their response will also be published next week.