Sustainable mining communities post mine closure: Critical reflection on roles and responsibilities of stakeholders towards local economic development in the City of Matlosana

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: The South African gold mining industry is in decline, with available ore bodies mostlydepleted. With ever increasing costs and a depressed gold price, most mines arestruggling to remain viable, with many having reached their peak and downscaling orpreparing for closure. The consequences of mine closures on host communities,where mining is the main economic driver, are often devastating and traumatic. Thisstudy explores the role that mining companies and other role-players should play inthe development of local economies in order to reduce the negative social impacts offuture closures. Local economic development (LED) is often seen as the solutionand assumes local and other actors will collaborate in crafting a future for the regionor place. The City of Matlosana (Klerksdorp Gold Fields) is used as a case study.Various perspectives, including legal, economic, political, environmental, and socialperspectives on the challenges the city face were obtained through the use ofmultiple methods, including surveys, interviews and observations, as well as contentanalysis of documents, meeting notes and feedback. Using the constant comparativemethod to analyse the data obtained, themes such as a lack in trust, poorcommunication and collaboration, poor institutional capacity, political interferenceand a lack in integrated planning emerged. The study shows that what presently isbeing done, will not be enough to make a meaningful impact on the economy postmine-closure. Five themes emerged illustrating the current status. Legislation suchas the Mineral and Petroleum Resource Development Act is vague, causing differentinterpretations by different agents. Secondly the Department of Mineral Resources isnot capacitated to discharge its legal responsibilities. Thirdly the municipality'sIntegrated Development Plan is poorly constructed with limited participation from keystakeholders and provides no guidance. Fourthly the political and technicalleadership and skills to secure a future beyond mining in local government andprivate business is lacking. Lastly the city's infrastructure is old and will hamper theprospects of future development. In this broken environment the response frommining has been varied. In the absence of a regional closure plan, each minecontributes as it sees fit and the contribution thereof will probably not contribute tosecure a life post mining. The study makes recommendations about improving thelegislative framework and planning arrangements, and hopes to contribute to theknowledge base for all local actors to learn from.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University