Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust a torchbearer

INTERNATIONAL bodies have in recent decades come up with economic frameworks to ensure that communities benefit from mineral resources around them. The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and African Union (AU) Mining Vision (AMV) of 2009 urged mining firms to contribute to the social, economic, and institutional development of the communities in which they operate.

Following such initiatives, Zimbabwe is one of the countries that came up with a communitybenefit scheme, in the form of Community Share Ownership Trusts (CSOTs). Initiated in 2012, CSOTs are meant to act as vehicles of community development using proceeds from mining activities within each district. Proceeds are meant to bring about development through construction of schools, clinics, roads, etc.

In that spirit, the Gwanda community in Matabeleland South province recently received US$360 000 paid to Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust by Blanket Mine, a subsidiary of Caledonia Mining Corporation.

In 2012, Caledonia Mining Corporation facilitated the ownership of 51 percent of Blanket Mine by Indigenous Zimbabweans in accordance with the prevailing legislation at that time. This included a 10 percent ownership by the local community via GCSOT. In 2020, following changes in legislation, Caledonia increased its shareholding in Blanket to 64 percent, but GCSOT retained its 10 percent ownership.

Commenting on announcement,

Learmonth,

the Mark Caledonia’s chief executive officer, said:

“In October 2021, Blanket Mine announced that the advance dividend loan had been repaid and going forward GCSOT would receive its full entitlement of 10 percent of dividends paid by Blanket Mine. With investment in our local communities and employees being at the heart of our business, I am delighted that this dividend has now been paid.”

The community share ownership scheme is a Government initiative under the indigenisation programme aimed at ensuring that communities have shares in companies that exploit natural resources in their areas and use the proceeds from the shareholding to fund development projects in their communities.

Mabhena, Moyo (2014), in their research, concluded that the development of infrastructure and provision of public utilities such as electricity, water, establishing microcredit to small and medium enterprises and implementing broad-based indigenisation policies were some of the strategies of improving rural livelihoods and stimulating entrepreneurship in communities living close to mines. Similarly, direct and indirect linkages between the mining sector and local economy could be enhanced through the provision of food supply to the mine, manufacture of mining inputs, provision of security services and supply of labour by the local community.

Blanket Mine thus has to be applauded for living true to the promise made to the community, and other mining houses must follow suit.