South Africa’s mining company, Royal Bafokeng Platinum will, in the next five years, invest over US$250m to complete Phase two of the employee housing development scheme for its workers. The company will, during the Phase two of the project, construct 3100 housing units. The project’s approval was announced last week. The project will be undertaken in the next five years.
Royal Bafokeng Platinum will build the housing units in partnership and collaboration with National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). The employee housing development scheme will aim at providing the company’s workers with ownership of safe, affordable and appropriate houses.
The new housing units will measure 80 to 360m² and will cater for diverse employee needs. During last week’s during handing over to employees the first 422 houses constructed in the Waterfall Hills Estate, North West SA in the phase I of the project, CEO at Steve Phiri at RBPlat said the company was “committed to leaving a legacy behind.”
It is likely that more building contracts in South Africa will be launched in relation to employee housing development scheme, since violent labour unrest since the beginning of 20th century have arose due to poor worker housing in mining industry. It has also been viewed that the current living-out allowance policy by companies has contributed to militancy in the labour force and strike. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) could push for the replication of RBPlat’s housing strategy at other mining companies in the country.
