Petmin is committed to the social and economic development of the communities in the areas where its mines are located. These operations participate in local development forums and Integrated Development Programme (IDP) projects have been identified and integrated into each operation's Social and Labour Plan.
SamQuarz is in the process of establishing a forum comprising the mine, the municipality and community members. It has also started meeting with adjacent mines with a view to investigating the formation of partnerships for community projects.
SamQuarz formed a partnership with McCain Foods to start a commercial farming project - the Bossemanskraal project - as a local economic development project. The initiative was officially launched in January 2008 and approximately R1 million was contributed to this project, of which R287 000 was spent during FY09. Unfortunately, the owner of the farm experienced financial difficulties and the farm had to be sold. The mine has not given up on the concept, however, and is in discussions with McCain and the municipality with the intention of starting a similar project in the Delmas area. As with Bossemanskraal, the new project would have the following aims:
Somkhele continues to interact with the surrounding communities through regular meetings of the Mpukunyoni Mining Committee which comprises representatives from the mine and the Mpukunyoni Tribal Authority.
Through Somkhele's housing development project, a total of 124 families have received new houses of which, 116 have been built in the Mpukunyoni area. The total number of people that have benefited from this project is 983 community members.
All the houses built in Area 1 and Area 2 were provided with water. Progress was made with the development of a road and a new community dam for Area 1. The new electrical supply network is under way with new lines in place at Area 2. Once state power utility Eskom has given its approval, the new lines in Area 2 will be activated and new lines in Area 1 will be completed.
A library is being built which should be ready, with the first 1,000 books on the shelves, during the second quarter of FY10.
The following are planned for the next two years:
The mine also plans to assist in developing skills among community members, starting in FY10. People with welding skills will be organised to train others. A minimum of 20 community members will be enrolled in the first six months and a further 20 in the second half of the year. The intention is to manufacture tables which will be donated to the local schools. In the process people will gain skills and experience that they can use to generate income when the project comes to an end.
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