[original publication date: March 2016]

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) has...undertaken research into the effectiveness of the [Social and Labour Plans], SLP system in meeting its objectives. This research [which is the first part of a phased research project] is aimed at uncovering any failures of design and implementation, with the ultimate goal of suggesting measures to address these failures...SLPs do not appear to cater for actual community needs, a sentiment that is echoed by mining communities throughout South Africa...This report therefore comprises an identification of pervasive strengths and weaknesses in the 50 SLPs assessed, followed by an analysis of the features of the regulatory system which partially account for these trends. The main findings of the report are as follows:

• [T]he information on the background and context of the mining operation and its impact on affected communities tended to be vague and incomplete...
• ...SLPs on the whole did not clearly explain the nature and extent of the operation’s impact. In particular, very few SLPs addressed negative impacts at all.
• [T]here was a near-universal absence of acknowledgment of, and engagement with, the disparate impacts of mining on the lines of race, gender and socio-economic status...
• [A] significant number of SLPs lacked evidence of finality and completion, for example, the absence of signed undertakings and the inclusion of some programmes without targets and timeframes...
• [A] significant proportion of SLPs [were] difficult to navigate on account of inconsistencies in form and structure coupled with a frequent failure to draft fully legible documents...
• [On] the needs and aspirations of communities and workers...a vast majority of SLPs made no mention of the processes of consultation with communities in particular.
• [T]he majority of SLPs provided no evidence of clear mechanisms by which communities can hold companies accountable to their obligations.