New initiatives and new ways of thinking that go beyond our world views are required for our challenging times. We don’t know how to talk each other, how to have meaningful dialogue that leads to fundamental change at community level.
We take positions that are often based on ideology and stick to them. We identify our differences, not what we have in common. Relationships are adversarial, with high levels of conflict. We would rather go to war than accommodate each other. We get caught in tunnel vision that limits what can be done.
We use the law inappropriately, with many in the mining industry criminalising protest actions when what is needed is relationship-building. This requires compromise and dialogue. But we play the blame game, with outcomes that further alienate us. It is a situation we can no longer afford.
The Institute for Social Dialogue (ISD) positions itself as a facilitator between mining companies and affected communities. It addresses critical needs and outcomes, with a focus on inequality, unemployment and poverty.
It does this through capacity development, joint problem solving and developing parallel economies around mining. It acts as a change agent, taking a bottom-up approach led by communities. It encourages responsible mining practices and community-level empowerment.
The need to address the critical needs of young people and the hurdles they face entering the world of work cannot be ignored. Unemployment in mining communities is 70%. Alarm bells are ringing, and they have been heard by the industry.
The time has arrived to build bridges and open the space for constructive dialogue, with all sides participating as equals. Communities are crying out for such a service and pressure on the industry is mounting to show that it can help deliver outcomes that are truly sustainable.
Increasingly, mining realises it has a responsibility to address the myriad issues in its host communities; but it is often at a loss as to how to do so. Communities are not homogeneous but comprise various interest groups, ranging from tenderpreneurs to women’s groups, the unemployed and environmental activists. All come with their own agendas.
Globally, investor pressure is mounting on mining to be a good neighbour and contribute to empowered and self-sustaining communities. This opens space for new initiatives, new thinking and new paradigms. Multiple players need to be involved, including the supply chain side of the industry, the beneficiaries of mining, the government and development finance institutions.
The ISD situates itself as an honest broker seeking to bring the parties together and begin a process of informed decision-making based on human rights and human dignity.
If the cries of communities are ignored, we face rampant uprisings, destruction of property and ultimately the downfall of the country.
It’s one thing to hold the industry accountable and quite another to make interventions that address inequality, poverty and unemployment. Boldness is needed and the time has long past that civil society can sit on the margins yelling the odds but unable to give direction on the pressing issues. New vision is needed that takes a partnering approach and understands the inherent conflictual nature of the relationship between industry and communities.
If the cries of communities are ignored, we face rampant uprisings, destruction of property and ultimately the downfall of the country.
The ISD explores various ways of doing this to build trust, social cohesion and common agendas, with the ultimate goal of addressing the scourge of poverty. This requires bringing capable, like-minded organisations, institutions and individuals together.
What we need are equal and just partnerships between mining houses and communities built on aligned aspirations, responsible mining practices and the empowerment of local people. This will require addressing the fractured relations between mines and communities, balancing economic, social and environmental objectives and striking compromises where necessary.
We need democratic practices at community and corporate level and participatory decision-making; a nonadversarial approach that builds relationships and co-operation. Information sharing and capacity building are important.
We need livelihood development, post-mining economies and dual economies. Most importantly, we need to recognise what we have in common. This approach opens doors for collaboration.
Formally registered a year ago and backed by Sibanye-Stillwater, the ISD has begun building relationships in communities. Without the backing of company CEO Neal Froneman, a leading thought-leader in the industry who backs social compacts, truth-telling and good neighbour agreements, the initiative would not have come to fruition.
South Africans need each other as never before and now is the time to identify what we have in common and use this to drive a new agenda of social cohesion. It’s a tall task but where there is vision, there is hope.
The institute calls on the rest of the mining industry to support this initiative and to be truly socially responsible; likewise, civil society, communities and like-minded organisations. Dialoguing as equals opens opportunities that did not exist before.
• Capel is executive director at the Institute for Social Dialogue
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