Preferential Procurement

The Company has actively engaged the various suppliers of goods and services with the aim of encouraging them to align themselves with the law of the land with regards to Transformation. Most of these discussions have been fruitful. At Mine Waste Solutions the budget largely went to the vendors supplying large capital equipment for the construction of gold and uranium plants.

Beneficiation

In 2009 we reported that the establishment of Mine Waste Solutions was the highlight of beneficiation project, employing over 900 people in the processing of the tailings dam. A uranium plant has now been constructed. This will further clean up the tailing, making the area environmentally attractive, and reducing the likely hood of any exposure to radiation in the future, as the uranium is now mined out. The new tailings facility will be storing cleaner material.

Reporting

In terms of the mining act, the company is obliged to report regularly to various government departments. These include the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Minerals and Resources, National Nuclear Regulator and the Department of Water Affairs and Environment. These reports are generated at the operations and captured and stored in a central repository.

Enterprise Development

The company is in constant touch with the Department of Minerals and Resources. The discussions centre around the issues that need clarity as to what constitutes Enterprise Development one the one hand and Corporate Social Responsibility, on the other. There is a slight change to the current directive.

The emphasis is being put on the mining companies putting a stake in the emerging business, whether it is situated in the area where the mine is located, or situated in the labour sending area.

The operations are in the processing of identifying the projects in close collaboration with the officials from the DMR. Budgets have been earmarked for the current year to launch these projects.

Mining community and rural development

As a good corporate citizen, the company has identified itself with the communities where it operates. These commitments are contained in SLP’s of individual operation. Learnerships and bursaries are being provided to non mine employees from surrounding communities who wish to make their career in the mining field at Ezulwini. The Further Education and Training Colleges and Universities have been identified. The learners who have been accepted in these tertiary institutions are then paid for , and a contract is signed between the mine and the learner. About R340,000 has been set aside for 2010.

At Mine Waste Solution, the Company subsidizes a crèche in the area, provides maintenance/assistance for the sewerage system utilised by the local primary school, allocated temporary vendor space for four unemployed women at the construction site and provides training space for the sewing training classes.

As reported last year, MWS continues to provide a bus to transport unemployed individuals from centrally located points within the Khuma community to attend the ABET classes. Approximately 130 unemployed individuals are accommodated for this purpose. The ABET teaches are paid in part by MWS.