A Social and Labour Plan (‘SLP’) contains the comprehensive development programmes that a mining right holder must create and implement to benefit a mining affected community. An application for a mining right must be accompanied by an SLP. Additionally, SLPs must contain development programmes that address human resources and local economic development. This dissertation considers whether the SLP System perpetuates an enclave approach to development (‘enclave development’). Enclave development occurs where mining companies develop physical infrastructure, such as roads and electricity, to support their extraction of natural resources. The definition relied on in this dissertation goes a step further to include the implementation of social programs that only target specific areas surrounding mining operations. Assuming that the SLP system indeed perpetuates enclave development, the dissertation also inquires whether this can be remedied with reference to the African Mining Vision (‘AMV’). The hypothesis that the SLP System perpetuates enclave development was initially borne out of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, which revealed issues with a British mining company’s SLP compliance. Relying on an enclave development approach is particularly problematic in South Africa, as it neglects the development of labour-sending areas and other poor communities that happen to be far from mining operations. By considering the AMV, it becomes evident that elements of the AMV’s proposed strategy of Resource-based Industrialisation are being pursued in South African mineral law and policies. The issue then arises whether the AMV can provide insight. Is it the case that South Africa has not yet seen the benefits of pursuing a Resource-based Industrialisation (‘RBI’) strategy because government is yet to maximise its implementation? Alternatively, are the critiques levelled against the AMV’s RBI strategy valid, hence its inability to speak to the South African SLP System? The critiques levelled against an RBI strategy are that: (a) it perpetuates the colonial model of resource extraction (thus explaining why South Africans fail to see the positive impact of this industrialisation strategy) and (b) it fails to address the negative social and environmental costs of pursuing a minerals based industrialisation strategy. Were one to support the argument that South Africa should work towards the full implementation of an RBI strategy, then the AMV’s proposal of localising the benefits of mining are appealing. The AMV proposes that a government establishes clear fiscal linkages with mining operations, that there be a clear revenue distribution system and the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund. The development of fiscal linkages and a clear revenue distribution system would enable government to re-invest and distribute the revenue to local government, so that labour sending areas and poor communities benefit from mining. The portion of the revenue from mining would be invested into a Sovereign Wealth Fund and the revenue would ensure future generations also benefit from mining. The above approach, to localising the benefits of mining as opposed to relying on SLPs, returns primary responsibility for ensuring social development to the South African government. Governments are inherently far better capable than mining companies at ensuring far reaching social development and promoting socio-economic development. This dissertation concludes by asserting that at a theoretical level, although the AMV does provide insight that could potentially curtail the perpetuation of enclave development by the SLP System, whether these insights are worth implementing, and whether they can be implemented by the South African government, in the light of the compelling critiques levelled against the AMV’s RBI strategy needs further research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/31042 |
| Date | 12 February 2020 |
| Creators | Ncube, Vuyisile |
| Contributors | Mostert, Hanri |
| Publisher | Faculty of Law, Department of Private Law |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, LLM |
| Format | application/pdf |
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