IMPALA PLATINUM MAKING A DIFFERENCE: INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IMPROVES COMMUNITIES 

Last month in Platinum Weekly, we introduced platinum miner, Impala Rustenburg, to our readers. This month, we go a little bit deeper into what the mine does for community infrastructure in terms of its Social and Labour Plan (SLP). 

An SLP is a plan that supports the government’s Integrated Delivery Plan (IDP) and outlines the mine’s commitment to assist in improving infrastructure delivery and enterprise development, among other initiatives, which are designed to stimulate local economic development and growth. 

Using the Rustenburg Local Municipality’s IDP as a point of departure, Impala identified projects for its mine communities together with the leadership of the community as nominated by Rustenburg Local Municipality and Royal Bafokeng Nation. Impala Rustenburg engaged with community representatives in the Mine Community Leadership Engagement Forum (MCLEF) to ensure these projects met the needs of the communities and to find out if additional projects could be included.

Once all community stakeholders were in agreement, the mine started a series of infrastructure development projects, many of which are now of great benefit.

Proper roads and stormwater channels aren’t always the first things that come to mind when talking about community infrastructure, but they are critically important. Bad roads and a lack of proper stormwater channels cause big problems in communities during the rainy season.

Flooded and muddy roads disturb easy access to public transport, adding to the transport challenges community members face. Badly managed stormwater is also a risk to children. Proper road infrastructure and storm water management raises the standard of living in communities and helps protect their properties.

In the communities of Luka, Kanana, Freedom Park and the Boitekong township, we have really shown how Impala Platinum makes a difference. In Luka and Kanana, Impala embarked on the design and then the physical construction of 4.3 kilometres of roads and stormwater drains. The two projects together created more than 130 temporary jobs and on completion the facilities were handed over to the Royal Bafokeng Administration. 

In Freedom Park, Impala is currently designing and will build about 1.5 kilometres of roads, providing a meaningful upliftment to the Freedom Park community, which is very close to Impala’s operations. The project is estimated to create roughly 30 temporary jobs. 

In the Boitekong township, the dam next to the Rustenburg Prison and Impala’s Sunrise View Home Ownership development was damaged many years ago and was never rebuilt, which posed a threat to the Sunrise View homeowners.

As part of Impala Rustenburg’s social responsibility programme, the mine built an access road, with some 30 temporary jobs created over the life of this big and vital project. The remedial works to the earth beam in the flood line is being constructed in partnership with the Rustenburg Local Municipality. 

Impala has also designed and built sport and recreational facilities. The Royal Bafokeng Nation aims to encourage children and adults to take part in sports for a happier healthier community – and to identify talent. Royal Bafokeng Sport runs weekly training schedules for many popular community sports.  

The first flagship project is the Kanana Multi-purpose centre which caters for multiple sporting codes and makes provision for an information hub.

A survey of the Luka and Mogono communities found that there was a lack of sport facilities with only clay ground as playing fields and no dressing rooms or ablution blocks. As a result, sport facilities were planned for implementation in Luka. This project is due to commence in our financial year 2020. 

In addition, Freedom Park and Lefaragatlhe were identified as good sites for sports facilities as per the IDP and Impala aims to contribute to a vibrant and sustainable community environment through sports development. As such we have plans to build sports and recreational facilities at Freedom Park, which will be handed over to the Rustenburg Local Municipality on completion.  

The Lefaragatlhe sport facility project is currently in progress. In addition, Impala is also busy renovating the Mogono Community Hall, which will be handed to the Royal Bafokeng Administration on completion.  

Together, these projects created more than 500 temporary jobs for community members so far and have improved the living conditions in several communities. This speaks to Impala Rustenburg’s philosophy of ‘shared growth’ – if the mine can prosper the community prospers too. 

Look out for further updates in our ‘Impala Platinum making a difference’ series in forthcoming Platinum Weekly publications and remember to tune in to Radio Mafisa FM 93.4 on Fridays during drive-time at 6.10pm