Buffalo Coal commits itself to investing in the future

The new owners of Buffalo Coal have committed their investment in the town, with the announcement of a project to rework the old Talana coal dump site near Craigside. The project was launched last Friday at a community meeting in Craigside, where Buffalo Coal’s managing director, Bonani Ndlovu, held a question-and-answer session to provide clarity and answer questions residents may have. Ndlovu stated that the Talana dump initiative is one of their local ventures and is not on a mining scale.

“The rehabilitation project is worth R5 million and is part of our corporate social responsibility. “We will need 20 workers to operate at the dump site. CVs can be left in a box at Buffalo Coal’s office at Coalfields. The employment process will be transparent and we will then present our findings to the Endumeni Mining Forum,” Ndlovu assured the meeting.

Residents also questioned what Buffalo Coal will be able to do to upgrade Craigside, where they said there ‘are no proper roads’. Ndlovu said trucks will be using the access road to haul material from the dump, and that Buffalo Coal will have to verify with Endumeni Municipality and the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) when it comes to fixing the road. “What we can do is put in trenches and keep the road graded while we’re using it. If the Department of Transport does not allow us to do so, we will have to find other methods to fix potholes in the meantime,” Ndlovu explained. He also stated that the mine can assist with creating trenches that will help redirect water away from residents’ homes in times of heavy rain. The mine has given its assurance that all environmental, heritage protection and other regulations are followed to ensure that the impact of the project on people and on the area is kept to a minimum. ‘Council will not be involved in recruitment’ Ward Councillor Zitha Shelembe said he was only attending the meeting to observe the promises made and had no participation in the recruiting process. He also assured residents that everyone’s safety is the top concern and that they will be hired to control traffic. “This project came at the right time after the terrible floods, because it should have started last year,” Shelembe explained. He also informed residents that the road that will be used does not belong to the town, but ‘rather to the traffic department and thus is not included in the Integrated Development Plan’. The project launch comes months after Buffalo Coal workers took to the streets to protest ‘unfair treatment and late pay’. In his response, Ndlovu remarked that ‘we had hoped that the process would be very smooth, but unfortunately, with the (previous) senior management unexpectedly leaving, it caused a bit of commotion and panic among the staff and among different stakeholders, which resulted in some people being deliberately malicious about us taking over’. He told the Courier that ‘a lot of negative things’ were said about them coming in, and they were not given the opportunity to explain who they are and what they are here for. “All of that is still being addressed in various ways. As new management, we are still dealing with those issues via court and the CCMA. “The new management will conduct roadshows throughout Endumeni as part of their public awareness campaigns, which will assist them to get to know us. “We’ve been here for six months and I feel like we’ve only been focusing internally and haven’t gone out to the public, so we’ll be doing roadshows outlining how we intend to grow the economy here,” Ndlovu explained. Ndlovu concluded by saying that they have adapted work for general workers so that everyone may profit. “We recognise that there are many competent individuals in the mining field.”

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