The majority of people in the mining areas in Limpopo, South Africa, depend on agriculture
to sustain their livelihoods; however, the mines have also become important because they
create better employment opportunities. The purpose of the study was to analyse the impact
of mining on agriculture and socio-economic aspects in the rural communities of the Greater
Tubatse Local Municipality. The objectives were to profile the socio-demographic
characteristics of the community members surrounding a chrome mine; to determine the
impact of mining activities on agricultural production (crop and livestock production); to
determine factors influencing farmers’ perceived impact of mining activities on agricultural
production; and to ascertain the socio-economic (natural capital, financial capital, social
capital, human capital, physical capital) impact of mining activities on the local communities.
A quantitative research approach was used to conduct the study using a survey design. Six
villages surrounding a chrome mine in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality in Limpopo
participated in the study. Stratified and random sampling approaches were used to select
participants from each village to constitute a sample of 347. A total of 347 survey
questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews but only 309 were correctly and fully completed. SPSS version 24 was used to analyse the data. The data were analysed
using descriptive statistics, the ordered logistic regression model, Wilcoxon signed ranks test
and binomial test. The majority (50.8%) of the respondents were male. Sepedi was the most
spoken language (97.7%). Most (63.3%) of the respondents were in the age range of 18-30,
and 76.4% were single in terms of marital status. A large proportion of the respondents
(70.6%) could read and write because they had secondary education. Land ownership
findings show that more than half (58.1%) of the respondents had farm plot sizes between
4.6 and 10.5 ha. Average farm plot size was 4.1 ha, and only a few (1.3%) of the plots were
above 9 ha. The average family size was about 7 people (actual 6.7). A large proportion
(77.7%) of the respondents were dependent on government social grants (pensioners,
disability and orphans) as the main source of income. Regarding the impact of mines on
agriculture, the study found that in general, the mines did not have a negative impact on the
production of livestock and crops, except for donkeys and groundnuts, which were negatively affected. In addition, the findings also show that a large proportion (92.6%) of the
respondents lost their agricultural land (mainly grazing land) because of increased mining
activities, although the loss of land did not affect production. With regard to the socioeconomic
impact of mining activities on the surrounding communities, the study found that
the mines had a negative impact on natural capital, physical capital, financial capital and
social capital. However, the impact on human capital was positive. It is recommended that
mining companies in the study area provide the necessary support to improve the socioeconomic
status of the rural communities surrounding the mines in Greater Tubatse Local
Municipality. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Sc. (Agriculture)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/25600 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | Tsebe, Mapuru Rachel |
| Contributors | Antwi, M. A., Maake, M. M. S. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xi, 86 leaves) : color illustrations, color maps, color graphs |
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