Our Coal business today visited Sibongamandla Secondary School situated close to our Kriel colliery as they officially handed over an R18 million upgrade and expansion project.
Sibongamandla Secondary School is the only high school situated in Kriel’s rapidly growing Thubelihle township. Here learners were taught in overcrowded classrooms built from asbestos, which is infamous for its serious health impacts. More than this, there was also a critical lack of learning facilities.
While the Department of Education committed to rebuilding the classrooms, they needed the funding to provide additional and essential learning facilities. That’s where our Kriel colliery stepped in with the R18 million investment which was used to upgrade the facilities which included the construction of a library, computer centre, home economics and science laboratories, an administration block, fencing, ablution facilities and kitchens.
School principal, Bhekithemba Ndlala says, “We now walk tall and feel as though we are approaching the new South Africa all because of Anglo American, which is helping so many people. Simply by doing this construction, we were also able to employ forty-five local community members to help us revamp the school.
Working with communities to create change
In South Africa’s developing economy, mining plays an important role in our country’s growth through its contribution to infrastructure development, health, training, employment and of course, community development.
Our goal is to always work with our host communities to make a meaningful difference and to create a direct impact in the places where they live and work.
Bheki Khumalo, head of corporate affairs at our coal business in South Africa says, “We can only achieve our ambition of becoming the mining industry’s investment, employer and partner of choice by working responsibly, sustainably and by working with stakeholders to create a mutually beneficial relationships with our host communities.”
The day-to-day challenges faced by those living close to our mines are many, and range from high unemployment and low levels of skills to limited municipal services due to a lack of capacity. What’s worse, this is all intensified by grinding poverty. This is why our approach to community development has been designed to help deal with these challenges, as we fully understand the integral role that we play in creating shared value for our mine communities.
We always strive to go beyond compliance, something that is consistently proven throughout our business and our approach to community investment. Coal SA has in the past five years spent more than R400 million in community projects that are making a real social and economic difference in our mine communities.
“When we look at community development, nothing is more important than ensuring that the children in our communities receive a good education,” says Khumalo. “This is even more important, as South Africa is faced with a multitude of well-publicised challenges, including a shortage of qualified teachers, poor learner results and a severe lack of resources and infrastructure.”
To address these specific challenges, our coal business has invested significant resources across the education spectrum, right from early childhood development through to adult basic education and training (ABET). Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world