The International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa(IANRA) and its 3 partners Bafokeng Land Buyers’ Association (BLBA), Bench Marks Foundation (BMF) and ActionAid South Africa (AASA) are working together with 12 mining communities in 5 targeted provinces in South Africa. The provinces are Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape. Kwa-Zulu Natal and North-West.
Project goal: Contribute to strengthening the oversight system in South Africa bydeepening and grounding the dialogue between communities impacted by mining, CSO’s, their networks and their elected representatives and supporting MPs in their monitoring and oversight role. As a lasting legacy, it contributes to building strong, capable civil society networks, able to articulate and advocate for community concerns and aspirations with the legislatures. Residents of the many communities affected by mining throughout South Africa and their national and provincial MPs and legislatures will benefit in the longer term through the work of this project to make mining legislation and oversight processes more responsive to their needs and situations.
The MCM Project aims to realise the following results:
- Mining communities/CSOs and networks (WAMUA/MACUA) have better understanding of provincial/national legislatures’ processes, how to gather & present data and concerns.
- At least 100 MPs and legislature staff in 5 provinces and nationally have improved understanding of mining impacts on communities, how impacts relate to the MPRDA and the Amendment Bill, the Mining Charter and other relevant legislation, IANRA’s Model Mining Law, human rights, gender andenvironmental targets and standards and have ongoing dialogue with mining communities/CSOs/networks.
- Community networks, including MACUA/WAMUA, and the interested public have increased understanding & evidence of mining’s impacts on communities to enhance advocacy over the longer-term.
MCM Project Activities to achieve these results include:
- National training meeting on legislative processes, legislation and policies impacting mining
- Provincial Orientation training workshops for communities, CSO’s and WAMUA/MACUA
- 12 Local participatory impact assessments
- Community meetings
- Guide to national/provincial legislative advocacy and procedures
- Setting up of 5 provincial and 1 national community/CSO’s advocacy teams
- Relationship building meetings with MP’s, Parliament and Prliamentary staff at national and provincial levels
- Provincial and National Breifings based on the assessments & policy analysis
- Attendance at parliamentary sessions
- Site visits for MP’s
- National and provincial natural resources for development dialogues organised with parliamentarians, addressing IANRA’s Model Mining Law , the MPRDA and Amendment Bill, and the Mining Charter
- Up to 5 joint meetinngs with companies and MP’s
- National meeting to share impact assesment methods and findings
- Community representatives in 27 communities in all 9 provinces will serve as a focal points to filter legislative information from national and provincial levels to communities through the advocacy teams.
The MCM Project Target groups are:
- Mining Communities
- Civil Society Networks
- MP’s
- Provincial and National Legislatures
MCM Project Hashtag:
- #Mining Communities Matter
The project period is from 2018- 2020 with the financial support from the European Union(EU), Hendrich Boll Stiftung Southern Africa (HBS) and Foundation for Human Rights (FHR)
