'Social responsibility in mining a dream'

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in many mining corporations is just a pipe dream, according to a Bench Marks Foundation study released in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The study, on the social responsibility programmes of platinum and coal mining, was conducted in South Africa, Zambia and Malawi.

"The mining industry (in South Africa) successfully lobbied to reverse control by the department of environment and tourism through the mechanism of the National Environment Management Act, back to the department of minerals and energy, as it had been under Apartheid," it said.

"Having brought about this reversal, the mining corporations have not only demonstrated their power over the government, but their cavalier attitude to matters concerning the environment."

The study revealed that many mining operations across the country operate without water-use licences, causing clashes between communities and farmers on the one hand and mining corporations on the other.

In Zambia, despite all the talk about CSR, the new mine owners had shown themselves remarkably reluctant to assist cash-strapped local councils to improve social service provision.

"Although the idea of CSR is gaining some importance within policy debates in Zambia, it is not applied widely and is usually associated with philanthropy (voluntary promotion of human welfare)."

The situation in Malawi was more grim. The study found that mining corporations in that country were not pressured by any legislation charters or empowerment programmes.

"... Outdated mining legislation, the parliamentary impasse and the country's seeming eagerness for foreign investment will most probably see Malawi making all the mistakes of its neighbours in making mining corporations accountable and responsible," the study observed.

The Bench Marks Foundation is an NGO established in 2001 to ensure principles of Corporate Social Responsibility are upheld, focusing mainly on the extractive industry in South Africa.