The lobby of the Fountain Hotel in the Cape Town CBD was packed with T-shirted delegates. “No to the resource curse”. “Africa is rich – Who benefits?”, the sea of T-shirts shouted.
We were two blocks away from the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) where the 17th Investing in African Mining Indaba was being held, but it could have been millions of miles away. Such was the extent of the disconnect between what was being said there and here at the second AlterNative Mining Indaba.
It was not just that dress code at the Fountain Hotel was a black T-shirt and jeans and over at the CTICC a blue suit. At the CTICC the mood seemed to border on a sort of smug “we’re-so-smart-masters-of-the-universe” attitude; there were almost undertones of exasperation as these powerful corporate entities and their advisers were forced to consider yet more sociopolitical demands.
More boxes to tick when it comes to drawing up their annual reports, which are getting thicker as the demands of corporate social responsibility (CSR) mean more photos of clinics and schools and happy locals frolicking in pristine fields.
At the Fountain Hotel, the mood among delegates was frustration and anger.
They represented communities and a way of life that was being threatened – or destroyed – by the operations of the mining companies. They came from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Swaziland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Guatemala and South Africa. They were also angry at their governments, whom they believe are largely incapable of protecting the interests of their citizens.
It is not just a lack of capacity, according to Rafiq Hajat from The Institute for Policy Interaction in Malawi. He said there was a subtle “them and us” attitude, which saw government officials preferring to take the side of the investors.
In the context of Malawi, this elitist approach was part of the legacy of Hastings Banda, the first president of independent Malawi. He noted that the preamble to the Malawi Mining and Mineral Act 1981, stated that all the land and minerals belonged to the life president. Nationalisation was not the answer because governments could not manage such large projects, said Hajat.
Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa, the head of the Anglican Church in Tanzania, spoke about the houses in Tanzania that had been bulldozed to make way for mines. But what of the statements about CSR, I asked the archbishop, thinking in particular of the impressive session I attended the previous evening.
Nick Holland of Gold Fields, Mark Cutifani of AngloGold Ashanti and Andre Wilkens of African Rainbow Minerals talked of their increased commitment to the communities and environments in which they operated.
“They’re still misbehaving,” replied the soft-spoken Mokiwa. “The use of chemicals in the extraction process has terrible effects on the environment, rivers are ruined, people are dying… but they claim to be working with the community, building clinics and schools… Yes they do build schools and clinics but they are substandard, unlike the ones they build for their own employees.”
He spoke of the 200 000 artisanal miners who had made a living in the area before the large multinational mining companies arrived 10 years ago. The artisanals were forced off the land.
Mokiwa believes there has been little improvement in the attitude of the mining companies.
“These are people who know how to corrupt the system, it will take time (to change them), they are making so much money it is hard for them to hear what we are saying.” Even if they are just two blocks away. - Ann Crotty