LETTER: Economic times taking its toll

LIMPOPO – After nearly 20 years of service as the waste and environment service provider, Oil Separation Services Northern Prov. CC left the RPM Mogalakwena site on 31 May this year.

The company was registered in 1996 and worked on the RPM Mogalakwena (then PPL Sandsloot) site on an ad hoc basis from time to time, as the mine was not yet in production and the awareness for waste and environmental services were not a priority in South Africa yet.

During 2000, after another ad hoc service provider could not maintain waste management standards sufficient for complying with the Environmental Act of 1996, Oil Separation’s Johan Lombard was approached by the then chief engineer and environmental officer to inspect the site and make suggestions as to the way forward in waste management on the site.

As this was the first ever effort in this direction by any mine and in this case an open cast mine, it proved to be a challenge and all systems had to be implemented, tested and refined on a daily basis.

The first formal contract entered into between Anglo and Oil Separation was in October 2000. From very humble beginnings in waste management, both Oil Separation and the mining staff built a waste management system on the site that today complies with all international standards on open cast mining sites. During this time Oil Separation was only appointed to attend to all hazardous substances on the site and Go-Awaste (a Zimele initiative by Anglo) was responsible for management of the general waste.

In 2009 it was decided by the Anglo Management at Supply Chain that two waste management companies on the mine was not ideal and cancelled all contracts to put the position of Waste Management Supplier – all waste types, out on tender. Oil Separation CC with its BEE partner, Fela Waste (Pty) Limited in joint venture (JV) elected to tender for this contract and, based on their prior knowledge of the site and the specific needs in this field over the previous nine years and expertise in the field of waste management, was awarded the contract. In 2014 when the contract expired, it was renewed and a new phase of waste management on the RPM Mogalakwena site was entered into.

Since the late 90’s up to 2014 Oil Separation served the mine well and assisted in creating jobs. During the two year period since a new contract that was entered into in 2014, a lot of changes were implemented on the mine which ultimately led to the termination of the services of Oil Separation.

Unfortunately, it also led to 90 bread winners from the local community and the greater Mokopane area losing their income, with bleak prospects of finding work again in these tough economic times.

A Spokesperson for the company, Johan Lombard, said they leave their heads held high.”

Our first concern was always to service our client to the very best of our ability and to create work for the local people, of which we feel ourselves a part of.

We all worked together to achieve what we did over a 20 year period. We wish the management and staff at RPM Mogalakwena and supply chain as well as the new waste management service provider only the best for the future.”

Mpumi Sithole, the Media Manager at Anglo American, commented that the mining giant conducts demand analysis annually to identify and plan for services required by the mine.

“This provides the company with an opportunity to identify local suppliers, their skill gaps and identify areas where they can be contracted in order to ensure a robust local economic activity and job creation for locals.”

She confirmed that Oil Separation Services’s contract lapsed at the end of 2015 and that their services have been contracted on a month to month basis since the beginning of the year.

‘We acknowledge the excellent service the company has provided to the mine,” she said.

• Oil Separation will continue to service the rest of their client base as before.