Mining: SA on the way to sustainable resettlement policy

JOHANNESBURG –  The Draft Mine Community Resettlement Guidelines published in December 2019 by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) signal a positive start in our journey towards a framework for sustainable community resettlement practices.

It is clear that resettlement is a growing concern in the development of large public and private projects in sectors like mining and energy. The physical and economic displacement of a community is generally an irreversible step with serious implications – both for the project-affected people (PAP) and for developers whose projects demand access to land and subsequently resettlement. International guidelines promote avoidance of resettlement during project design wherever possible. However, where resettlement cannot be avoided, careful management is required to ensure positive and sustainable outcomes for all involved.

The initiative to develop these guidelines for South Africa comes on the back of the South African Human Rights Commission report on the underlying socio-economic challenges of the country’s mining-affected communities.

The guidelines are aligned to the standards of international financial institutions who have put their own resettlement policies in place for borrowers. As these institutions apply their own strict standards to resettlement practices linked to the projects they fund, it is also vital that the project owner understands and complies with these requirements – and understands the risks associated with non-compliance.

Some African countries have already been addressing the question from a national perspective, providing South Africa with a range of good practice examples. We have learnt valuable lessons and gained considerable knowledge from our involvement on resettlement projects in Cameroon and Sierra Leone – as well as in the development of a draft national resettlement framework for the government of Guinea. This has provided many insights into what South Africa needs to take into consideration in this draft phase, to ensure good practice.