Johannesburg - South Africa plans to reform how local communities manage and spend mining royalties after a corruption probe found that $44 million paid into by Lonmin had been exhausted.
Almost all the money received by the Bapo Ba Mogale community over the past 20 years was spent, with the biggest amount used to build a palace for a tribal leader, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said on July 5. The palace cost at least R80 million ($5.8 million) despite an initial budget of R20 million.
“We need to develop a policy mechanism that can prevent it from reccurring anywhere else whilst also dealing with the remedies of what has happened with the Bapo,” said Obed Bapela, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, in an interview.
Mining companies such as Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum producer, are required by law to help improve the living conditions of communities and racial groups who were discriminated against under whites-only rule that ended in 1994. Some companies sell or finance equity stakes to black investors and can also pay royalties to community groups.
No oversight
The complexity and lack of transparency around such arrangements means residents often don’t see the benefits of mining income, leading to protests. In the case of the Bapo Ba Mogale, there had been no oversight structure to look after the community’s resources, according to Madonsela, the country’s corruption ombudsman.
“Going forward, there are policy gaps that we need to consolidate,” said Bapela, who is meeting with traditional leaders later this year to discuss the problem. “Maybe at the meeting we’ll come up with the norms and standards that will become policy in government.”
Community members now want to know who spent the money and where it went.
The government will assist Madonsela with her investigation into the fund and develop an “action plan” once she publishes her recommendations, Bapela said.
BLOOMBERG