Mapela Traditional Community to establish a corporate structure to benefit the community
Mapela Traditional Community to establish a corporate structure to benefit the community
The Mapela Traditional Community (MTC) is about to establish a corporate structure to manage its mining, social and commercial interest to benefit the community. The governance structure will consist of a controlling trust – the Mapela Trust – whose beneficiaries are the members of the MTC community; a fully-owned holding company – the MTC Holding Company – and several operating companies to commercialise its investments.
The Mapela Trust will be managed by a board of trustees chaired by its traditional leader Kgoshi David Kgabagare Langa and will include one trustee appointed by the Traditional Council, one appointed by the Council of Headmen, two Independent Trustees, and two trustees elected by the community.
This is similar to the process the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN) followed in corporatising its mineral assets under the control and management of Royal Bafokeng Holdings (Pty) Limited (RBH) to actively manage these for the benefit of the RBN.
The MTC consists of 42 villages and communities adjacent to Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena Mine in Limpopo. The mine leases land from the community for some of its mining activities. Anglo American Platinum’s operating company, Rustenburg Platinum Mines Limited (RPM), and the MTC have recently signed a Settlement Agreement in terms of which R175 million will be paid to the MTC to settle a number of legacy issues unrelated to the leases. These funds will provide seed capital for creating sustainable, long-term and diversified growth for the community.
The Settlement Agreement established a new framework to regulate and streamline RPM’s ongoing relationship with the MTC in line with the Company’s commitment to improving the standard of living of members of communities that are impacted and affected by its mining activities. RPM will have representation on both the MTC Trust – for a limited period – as well as on operating company level. A number of operating companies are envisaged, including joint ventures and partnerships with other parties, to derive commercial benefit for the community.
The first R90 million of the settlement amount has already been paid into a trust account and will be paid over to the MTC when the corporate governance structure has been established, to be followed by a final payment of R85 million thereafter. The corporate governance structure is scheduled to be established before end-June 2016.
Speaking after the signing of the agreement, Chris Griffith, Chief Executive Officer of Anglo American Platinum, said “The Mapela Trust represent an investment into the future of the community, which will significantly impact the quality of life of community members and also presents an opportunity to further advocate Anglo American Platinum’s Alchemy vision of supporting sustainable communities around the company’s operations.
Kgoshi Langa welcomed the finalisation of the settlement agreement, he said “This agreement will ensure that we see tangible benefits flowing to the community. It is time we reduce our reliance on the mine to create jobs. We should create our own.”