By Gillian Schutte
Recent developments in the Platinum Belt raise critical questions about the motives behind the influx of influential figures and the establishment of the Institute for Social Dialogue (ISD). The ISD, led by John Capel, represents a breakaway from the Benchmarks Foundation—an organisation renowned for its relentless scrutiny of mining giants like Sibanye Stillwater and Tharisa Mines.
This shift suggests a deliberate restructuring. Why is a director from an entity that used to hold these corporations accountable now head of an organisation funded by one of them? The change appears to indicate that the ISD is a tool for corporate interests. The involvement of William Gumede as chair further complicates the situation. His affiliations, including his roles with ActionAid South Africa and the Centre for Public Authority at the London School of Economics, suggest that his presence serves to align local initiatives with broader international, donor-driven agendas. Is this shift a means of embedding global interests into local projects, ensuring that the language of community development serves multinational corporations while presenting a progressive façade?
Jay Naidoo’s entry into the platinum belt in 2021 deepens this narrative. With extensive connections to global organisations such as the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Naidoo’s presence in the Platinum Belt may not be as innocent as it seems. While he frames his role around environmental stewardship and community empowerment, his involvement raises concerns: is his presence a calculated move to pacify communities, diverting potential resistance into narratives that ultimately serve corporate interests? Naidoo’s background as the former general secretary of COSATU provides him with the credibility needed to engage workers and communities, but it also positions him as a figure who could quell social unrest by promoting a green, spiritual vision that obscures deeper structural exploitation.
Despite his union background, Naidoo’s statements in an interview on Newzroom Afrika, show a lack of understanding of the structural issues causing unemployment in the North West Province. He frames unemployment as a local problem, failing to recognise its roots in the entrenched migrant labour system that colonial powers established. David van Wyk a senior researcher at the Bench-Marks Foundation explains that the deliberate underdevelopment of the Eastern Cape forces its economically active population to migrate to regions like the North West due to a lack of opportunities at home. Hostel dwellers, disconnected from local communities, find it difficult to garner support when striking, and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has played a complicit role, abandoning workers once they become unemployed.
Adding to this, Naidoo’s statements on SAfm, where he espoused that NGOs were no longer necessary in the Platinum Belt, seem to indicate a strategic attempt to eliminate or diminish critical voices like the Bench-Marks Foundation. This rhetoric could be viewed as a calculated move to clear the way for singular dominance by organisations like the ISD, which, instead of mediating between communities and corporations, act in service of corporate interests. In framing himself as the sole figure capable of resolving the region’s challenges, Naidoo comes off as working to displace independent entities that provide genuine scrutiny and resistance to mining corporations.
David van Wyk’s critique of CSR strategies provides decisive insight into these dynamics. He argues that CSR often functions as a form of sophisticated bribery, designed to secure local loyalty and ensure that mining corporations maintain control over communities. According to van Wyk, corporations use CSR programmes to build alliances with local elites and create dependencies rather than addressing the structural issues facing communities. He highlights how CSR is often paid for by tax deductions, meaning that the public ultimately bears the cost of these initiatives while corporations gain the credit and benefit of seeming socially responsible. This manipulation allows companies to maintain an image of legitimacy and support without making genuine commitments to improve the lives of local people.
CSR practices, as van Wyk explains, offer selective incentives that discourage protest by increasing the perceived costs of engaging in collective action. Companies manipulate narratives, framing mining activities as essential for economic development, while distributing material benefits like healthcare and food-growing projects to build economic dependence. This approach ensures that individuals view protest as risky, fearing the loss of these temporary benefits. Discursive mechanisms further reinforce this by minimising the perceived risks and uncertainties associated with mining, while institutional mechanisms channel dissent into controlled forums that prevent genuine resistance.
In Argentina and Chile, similar CSR strategies have been deployed, where companies have integrated dissent into controlled frameworks, presenting CSR as a progressive solution while ensuring that corporate interests remain secure. The ISD’s formation and the roles of Gumede and Naidoo appear to align with this global strategy, using CSR to suppress dissent and manage the communities in ways that serve international economic interests, particularly those of the US and Germany. These powers seek to secure access to the Platinum Belt’s mineral wealth while presenting their efforts as part of a sustainable, community-led initiative.
The Platinum Belt faces a critical choice: continue under the illusion of corporate-led development or build independent, community-driven movements that seek real land reclamation and environmental justice. Van Wyk’s call for legislative reforms and authentic empowerment beyond corporate influence is essential. If this trajectory continues, the communities in the Platinum Belt will remain confined to dusty townships and informal settlements around mining operations that continue to profit from their labour.
The ISD, while acting as a mediator, risks becoming an enabler for multinational interests, ensuring that the region’s vast wealth remains in the hands of a few while the poor remain marginalised. Elitist figures and organisations will likely continue to exploit these opportunities and communities, using dialogues, projects, and programmes to enrich themselves rather than genuinely addressing the needs of the dispossessed.
* Gillian Schutte is a film-maker, and a well-known social justice and race-justice activist and public intellectual.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.