Mine Operations in South Africa: Community and Employee Reactions

For several years, the mining industry in South Africa has experienced widespread protest action on the part of mine workers and members of communities where mines are located. To identify reasons for these protests, a total of 46 accounts of protest actions, published in a range of South African newspapers, were reviewed for the study discussed in this paper. Key findings from a thematic content analysis of these accounts are that community members have been protesting about lack of job creation, inadequate service delivery and pollution of the environment. The mineworkers are mainly dissatisfied with salaries, benefits and some working conditions. Most of the mining companies which have experienced protest action are high profile international mining organisations which have experiences of operating in several countries. This paper argues that these mining companies have excellent operational strategies which ensure cost-efficient and good return on investment, but the problem is that the strategy is excluding some of the stakeholders, whom then becomes obstacles and threat to the profitability of such organisations. The mining unrest had taken place in many countries, which the South African mining companies could have learned from every time initiating a mining business in the land of the indigenous. Ensuring that operational excellence at all-time covers the three aspects of sustainability in a win-win situation is a way to go. This is the integration of economic, social and environmental elements within the operational excellence. Future research and proportions are included in the study.