In addition to meeting its own operational water needs, Northam also invests in water supply and sanitation projects for local communities through its community investment programmes and social and labour plans (SLP).

Zondereinde

Ongoing financial and infrastructure challenges facing the Thabazimbi Local Municipality (where Zondereinde is located) have affected water delivery to residential and industry users.

This not only presents a risk to water supply but also to basic human rights for the community. As part of its SLP and following a pilot to test solutions, Northam has responded by installing pre-paid water meters in Northam town, the main settlement serving the Zondereinde mine. As a result, the Local Municipality plans to install similar meters to other communities close to the mine.

Through the Zondereinde operations, we have also directed our community investment to the installation of additional water and sanitation infrastructure at various schools in the Eastern Cape.

Eland

Although water is abundant at Eland mine, the Madibeng Local Municipality (MLM) has indicated there is a shortage of potable water in the local communities around the mine. The MLM is looking to expand local infrastructure to improve potable water supply by around 1.5 million litres a day. As part of its SLP, Eland is currently formulating a supply agreement with the MLM to ensure water is provided to local community projects. The project includes a new water treatment facility, a reservoir and a pipeline that will connect with existing infrastructure supplying the community. In FY2022 R2.6 million of a total budget of R6.4million was spent.

Booysendal

In recent years, our Booysendal operations have been involved in drilling new boreholes and refurbishing existing ones as well as installing water distribution infrastructure in local communities. To date, more than 460 households have been provided with water at Ga-Maphopha village. Booysendal also officially handed over the Matsosho Water Reticulation Project to the Sekhukhune District Municipality.