Title: SOCIO-POLITICAL CHALLENGES FACING MINING COMPANIES IN SOUTH AFRICA Can effective corporate social responsibility mitigate against these challenges?
1SOCIO-POLITICAL CHALLENGES FACING MINING
COMPANIES IN SOUTH AFRICA Can effective
corporate social responsibility mitigate against
these challenges?
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
2ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT
- Mining does not take place in a vacuum
- Mining and its operations have both negative and
- positive impact on the environment (physical
and - social)
- To do business successfully we must understand
- the environment in which businesses operate
- Business cannot succeed in societies that
fail... - Bjorn Stigson President, WBCSD
- Effective public institutions and the delivery
of - social services and infrastructure is in the
interest of - business
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
3SOCIO-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
- Past characterised by divisions and inequality
- Racial coincidence of political and
- economic power
- Socio-economic challenges including
- education, diseases, unemployment and crime
- Young democracy facing teething problems
- Rectifying the past requires establishing and
- strengthening institutions to underpin
democracy - Vibrant and articulate youth, labour and
- other civic organisations
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
4MINING COMPANY CHALLENGES
Challenges invariably result from or are linked
to the socio-political environment
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
5MINING COMPANY CHALLENGES
- Skills shortages
- Regulatory requirements environmental,
- labour, safety, socio-economic (mining
charter) - Expectations/demands from local
- communities social license to operate
- Social ills crime, diseases, corruption and
- bribery
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
6MINING COMPANY CHALLENGES (cont.)
- Political and civil dynamics and associated
- pressures disruption of operations scary
- debates and demands e.g. Nationalisation
- Organised labour and business
- Issues with infrastructure and energy
- Efficiencies and responsiveness of government
- and public institutions
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
7NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
8CAN CSR MITIGATE AGAINST THESE CHALLENGES?
- Without a doubt, yes! With the keyword being
- mitigate
- CSR define
- A look at current initiatives reveals
- Scant, if any considerations of broader
- environmental challenges, plans and
- dynamics
- Compliance -driven
- Lack of alignment and collaboration
- Ad hoc non-integrated or unaligned to
- core business
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
9CSR MITIGATION CONSIDERATIONS
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting different results Albert
Einstein
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
10CSR MITIGATION CONSIDERATIONS
The issue is not so much the what, but more the
how and why .
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
11CSR MITIGATION CONSIDERATIONS
- Take the socio-political environment into
- account, especially conceptualisation of CSR
- initiatives
- Approach and implement CSR as a business
- imperative and integrate it into business
- operations
- Facilitate and support effective public and
- service institutions for sustainable social
services - delivery
- Recognise the importance of regional
- collaboration for impact and sustainability
of - initiatives
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
12CSR MITIGATION CONSIDERATIONS
- Constructive engagement and co-operation
- with important stakeholders e.g. Government
on - issues of national importance i.e.
governance - Join and support organised business
- organisations and utilise as a platform for
collective - voice
- Capitalise on successful current pilot
projects - by replicating and bringing to scale
- Health (HIV-AIDS) Xstrata Coal South Africa
- Education- National Business Initiative
(EQUIP), Edumap - Skills Development Xstrata Alloys Steelpoort
skills - development centre. Africagrowth institute
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA
13IN CONCLUSION
We need to make a major breakthrough in the way
that boards think if we want to save
capitalism... doing right because it is right,
not because it pays, with principle, not profit,
the point of departure.
Sir Geoffrey Chandler - Former Senior Executive
Royal Dutch Shell
A presentation by ERIC RATSHIKHOPHA