Mining-Affected Communities: The Elephant Not in the Room
At Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week we heard countless references to mining-affected citizens of African countries. The word “communities” steadily fell from the mouths of mining executives and government officials. Most suggested that maximizing benefits and minimizing harms for community members was a sacrosanct priority.
Community relations are just one facet of the work that remains for the influencers and decision-makers connected to the mining sector. State-state deals and the ways in which African countries might add value to raw commodities were also hot themes in Cape Town. (Though one industry lawyer said the quiet part out loud when he intoned from an Indaba stage that “governments really should have no role in mining.”) But until communities and civil society have a more fixed and prominent seat at the table, and agendas reflect the importance of their voices, progress on any of these challenges will be difficult.