Society

Pamodzi Gold views the empowerment of its workforce as an important ingredient for improved productivity and global competitiveness. The Company has therefore developed a career progression plan in line with our skills development strategies. This programme caters for scarce and hard to fill positions and is used to develop employee profiles. The programme includes mentorship, internship, bursaries and employment equity.

Pamodzi Gold is also committed to identifying and harnessing local and regional resources and opportunities to stimulate new economic and employment opportunities.

PGER is based in Strubenvale, Springs and is the largest employer in the area. We provide job opportunities for more than 3 500 people at our gold mining, metallurgical plant and associated services, in an area where the official unemployment rate exceeds 40%.

PGER has been investing in communities and social infrastructures in eastern Ekurhuleni and given preference to skills development projects as well as encouraging the development of sustainable SMMEs. To achieve this, we support community projects in accordance with the needs identified within the community.

Social upliftment through supporting community projects

Pamodzi Gold provides key social and economic development to communities within the areas in which it operates. These include primary health services that are provided by the Company’s clinic facilities, Aids counselling, community development initiatives and environmental awareness campaigns. We support Ekurhuleni and West Rand District’s approach to community development, aiming for sustainable livelihood.

The following specific projects were supported in the past:

• Donation of coal to the Kingsway low income housing complex ;
• sports development to a school in Kingsway (2004/2005);
• sponsorship for the 2010 Soccer World Cup bid in the form of soccer balls to the Ekurhuleni Metro (2005); and
• a monetary donation to Noah’s Ark Care Centre (2005).

The following projects are currently underway:

• Ongoing support to Our Nest, an institution that supports mentally handicapped children. PGER donated the house in which the charity operates as well as toys and clothes. In the quest for educational support and specifically cognitive development, we are in the process of acquiring office equipment to support another branch of Our Nest in Kwa-Thema.
  
• Pamodzi Gold supports education by paying schooling fees for needy children, as identified.
• PGER sponsors the netball and soccer teams of the Kingsway school by providing sports kits to these needy children.
• Pamodzi Gold is currently engaged in rolling out a literacy and numeracy project, which will befollowed with life skills education, to
  60 community members in the Springs Ward 51
  as part of our ABET programme.
• Pamodzi Gold has registered 10 learnerships with the Mining Qualifications Authority in 2007.
• Pamodzi Gold is currently engaged in rolling out a literacy and numeracy project, which will be followed with life skills education, to 60 community members in the Springs Ward 51 as part of our ABET programe.

Preserving the status of the environment

Pamodzi Gold is aware of its responsibility towards society to preserve the status of the environment. Pamodzi Gold aims to provide sufficient resources to environmental protection to ensure that environmental risks are minimised and that the environment and public welfare are protected during and after our mining activities. In order to meet our objectives, we are committed to support environmental initiatives in the communities in which we operate. Our environmental management and awareness projects include amongst others:

• Financial support to the Blesbokspruit Grootvaly Conservation Trust.
• Commemoration of World Wetland Day with school children from previously disadvantaged communities. The activities were aimed at creating environmental awareness among these children. PGER sponsored T-shirts, caps and educational tools used during the programme. The day was greatly enjoyed by all 80 children that attended.
• PGER has recently completed the construction of a mine water treatment facility at a cost of R15 million. This BioSURE treatment plant removes salts added during mining from 10 million litres of extraneous mine water per day before it is discharged to the Blesbokspruit. This reduction in salt load will have a positive impact on the environment downstream, including the internationally recognised RAMSAR wetland .Additional integrated mine water treatment strategies are currently being negotiated with Government and other stakeholders.
• PGER has recently completed a diversion of the Blesbokspruit in the vicinity of shallow undermining, at a cost of R9 million. The aim of the West Pit River Diversion Project is to prevent river water from seeping into underground workings, where it becomes contaminated. This project has resulted in a reduction of underground seepage of between 3 and 5 million litres per day. The project was nominated and short-listed for a 2006 Nedbank Corporate Green Mining Award.

Poverty alleviation

Pamodzi Gold supports Ekurhuleni’s poverty alleviation strategies and is involved in an ongoing initiative to create job opportunities for previously disadvantaged communities in our mining area. Pamodzi Gold appreciates the need for SMME development and the important role that this sector plays in the growing economy and where possible makes use of local businesses and labour in our mining projects. Projects that were created in order to fulfil our obligation to poverty alleviation include:

• Creating job opportunities through environmental management projects. PGER created work for 20 previously disadvantaged people from the Slovo Park/Gugulethu communities as part of a tailings rehabilitation project. The initiative provided short-term employment for a period of seven to eight months.
• Project Skukuza, initiated during 2003, is an entrepreneurial development initiative. The project is an environmental management project, which entails cleaning of roads along PGER’s ore transport routes. A local black owned company was awarded the project provided that disadvantaged people from local communities are employed. The project has in the last three years created approximately 47 job opportunities.
• Job opportunities were created for the Kingsway community during the West Pit River Diversion Project.
• In addition to its positive environmental impact, the construction and operation of the BioSURE mine water treatment plant has created job opportunities.
  
• PGER is supporting an urban gardening project in Ward 51 of Springs. This project aims at creating job opportunities for previously disadvantaged people from the area by growing vegetables on land leased by PGER to the community for a nominal amount. PGER will further assist the project financially by installing a fence, ploughing the ground and assisting with water supply for irrigation.

Pamodzi Gold aims to fulfil its social obligations and strives to achieve a balance between operating successful mining projects and caring for the environment and communities in which it operates.

We strive to provide development support to both our employees and communities, to enable socio-economic development by addressing unemployment, poverty, environmentally sustainable development and a general improvement in quality of life.

It is our belief that our strategic development framework, which focuses on both internal and external opportunities, will enable us to achieve our goals in this regard.