Media Information Pack

Transcription

1 Media Information Pack Background information for media on the first anniversary of the events of August 2012 August 2013 Contents 1. Foreword Commemorating the first anniversary of Marikana Update on change initiatives Legacy Project Sixteen Eight Memorial Trust Assistance provided to families of victims Annexures

2 1. Foreword The first anniversary of the week that changed our lives 12 to 16 August 2012 is of local, national and international importance. The events of August last year have had a profound effect on all of us and we join with the nation as we try to make sense of what happened through our participation in the Farlam Commission of Inquiry. While the Commission s work has continued to progress we have made our own efforts to look at what we can do to improve relations with our employees and to deliver value to our local community. We believe that the memory of all those who died, demands that Marikana must be a catalyst for change. All of us, as individuals and as a society, need to commit to peace and stability and do all that we can to ensure that nothing like Marikana ever happens again. Through a series of initiatives announced at the beginning of the year we are working to improve the lives of our employees through better housing, employee share ownership, and through reforming the migrant labour system. We are also investing in a legacy project eight multi-purpose community centres with a strong educational focus and through the Inter-Ministerial Committee we have made 825 serviced stands as well as additional land available to the Department of Human Settlements. This document outlines how we will commemorate the events of last year and provides information on initiatives that Lonmin has undertaken since then. 2. Commemorating the first anniversary of Marikana As a company our primary responsibility is to our employees and our local community and so our focus in commemorating the tragic events of last year will be mostly internal. Beginning 12 August 2013 we will be holding prayer services with our colleagues across the company to remember those who lost their lives last August and in the weeks that followed. We have also set aside time on the afternoon of 16 August for a remembrance ceremony, to which employees, strategic partners and the families of all the victims will be invited. There are many groups particularly the families of the deceased and the affected workers and communities that have a great stake in this process and Lonmin has engaged various stakeholders, including the interministerial task team, on Marikana to explore the most appropriate way of commemorating the day of the anniversary. The best way that we can commemorate the memory of those who died, however, is to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. The ongoing tensions in the industry are testimony to the challenges and obstacles that we still face as an industry and our primary challenge is thus to ensure peace and stability. We are working hard to foster an environment of tolerance and unity of purpose as we go forward. We know that this isn t enough and that true peace and stability is only possible if we continue to work on long term solutions with all stakeholders. 3. Update on change initiatives At the Annual General Meeting in January 2013 the Lonmin Board announced five key initiatives around employee relations, empowerment, migrant and local labour, better use of invested capital and infrastructure and housing and accommodation. The initiatives are aimed at rebuilding trust with employees and employees representatives and maximising the creation of value for all stakeholders. In doing so we believe we will enhance the long-term wealth creation and investment potential of the Company. 2

3 We have begun work on issues which we believe are fundamental to mining in the 21st Century in South Africa. Much of this cannot be done alone we will need to work closely with government to achieve our aims and we have already started to do so. We are committed to the substantive change we believe is required and we have made a good start. There is no quick solution. This is about collaboration and hard work, and we are shaping our ideas in dialogue with all employee representatives and other critical stakeholders. A summary of each project and progress to date is outlined below. A. Employee relations Lonmin aims to develop a sustainable employee relations framework, structure and system that adds value to the business. Our initial focus has been on the labour recognition agreement, and in the coming weeks we expect to conclude an agreement with AMCU. While the agreement is an important step towards building sustainable relations with our majority union and our employees, it is not a panacea. 3

4 We are taking a holistic approach to our employees as we seek to understand and address the social and economic issues they face. We have identified key needs, such as the need to help employees manage their indebtedness supported by improved financial literacy. We have implemented a financial wellbeing programme that has been running successfully since February and has been incorporated into the induction training schedule. Through an external provider (Summit Financial Partners) Lonmin has provided Financial Empowerment Training to over 7000 individual employees across all divisions. The training has been extended to communities. We are also working closely with credit providers to change their lending practice, in an attempt to alleviate the effects of unsecured lending. We plan to install mobile kitchens at the various Lonmin mining shafts to provide nutritional meals for all our miners to promote their well-being, improve productivity, performance and reduce absenteeism. The project is currently in pilot phase. B. Empowerment Lonmin s aim is to identify sustainable development measures that will create value for the Greater Lonmin Community (GLC) and integrate these into our Social and Labour Plans (SLP s). We have involved all identified stakeholders and gathered data to enable us to identify potential development areas. We are also looking at community ownership trusts as highlighted below. In terms of equity, we continue to look at the different options that are available to increasing its Historically Disadvantaged South Africans ownership from 18% to 26% by December 2014, as required by the Mining Charter. The Company is looking at facilitating the creation of trusts for the benefit of current and future employees, and separately for members of the GLC, to which new shares could be allotted for their economic benefit. The timeline with respect to the implementation of the employee scheme will be predicated on resolution of the discussions around the implementation of the union recognition agreement. The discussions and timeline in the previously announced proposed transaction between Lonmin and Shanduka (our Black Economic Empowerment partner) around the Limpopo asset have been extended by a year to 31 January 2015 in order to allow more time to complete the feasibility review, secure funding and obtain all necessary approvals. C. Migrant and local labour A shift configuration project has been set up to look at the viability of alternative shift and leave patterns in which operations can continue to run profitably while enabling employees to return home more frequently than has been possible in the past. In consultation with our stakeholders, the process will involve identifying optimum mine and shift cycles, establishing the costs and then developing an operational model to create a mutually beneficial environment for both Lonmin and its employees. D. Use of invested capital Lonmin is investigating how we work with our unions and industry peers to make better use of our infrastructure and hence invested capital. At the end of 2012 we announced two initiatives aimed at cutting costs and increasing efficiencies. We have made significant progress in our review of the operational management structure. In doing so, we have been working closely with affected employees and their respective trade unions, where applicable, as required by South African labour legislation, to consult on ways to minimise the impact of the restructuring. Approximately 150 managerial positions, representing around 20% of the management complement, have been made redundant, making for a more streamlined and efficient structure. 4

5 The review and restructuring has been designed in such a way as to minimise risk whilst positioning us to respond promptly to more favourable market conditions as they arise. E. Housing and accommodation Our aim is to develop and implement an integrated and sustainable human settlement strategy which is compliant with our licence to operate requirements and consistent with our commitment to adequate accommodation, safety and wellbeing of our employees. Our programme of building and converting hostels is continuing and we expect to complete the conversion of all our hostels to decent and affordable family or single accommodation units by December In addition, we are evaluating other ways to improve employees' living conditions and are creating programmes to deliver on these commitments. We have launched a comprehensive analysis of the employees who are impacted as this will provide us with some insight into their requirements and enable us to assess the associated costs. Our aim is to partner with all levels of Government, local Government, and other stakeholders and explorative discussions with government and other potential partners are ongoing. Lonmin has partnered with the Department of Human Settlements as part of its support for the Presidential Initiative to improve living conditions in Rustenburg. Lonmin has offered some 825 serviced stands as well as additional land to the Department of Human Settlements which can be used to build rental units for the employees who are currently renting in the community. This process is ongoing and we are working closely with the relevant stakeholders. 4. Legacy Project As part of Lonmin s response to the anniversary of Marikana the company has identified projects that will have a positive, long lasting impact on our communities and our employees. Phatsima Centres of Excellence During Lonmin s extensive engagement with communities we identified a need for multi-use community centres to facilitate access to information, training, leisure and study facilities that would include a managed library, with e-learning facilities and a multi-purpose hall for cultural, sporting and educational purposes. The Phatsima Centres of Excellence that we are launching are part of Lonmin s broader commitment to providing quality education and skills programmes to our communities. The centres will provide children with easy access to information, specifically when it comes to e-learning and will create a safe place of study and research. In addition, the surrounding communities will have access to the centres outside school hours to run programmes such as Community based ABET. The centres will be attached to eight schools across the GLC communities and will contain, where applicable, a multi-purpose hall that can accommodate 1000 people and be used as an indoor sports or culture facility, a kitchen facility (for purposes of catering for church, sporting and other events), a computer lab / internet facility, a library, an administration office, a Science laboratory and an additional classroom. Each centre will be tailored to specific community needs. 5. Sixteen Eight Memorial Trust Funding the education of children whose parents died in the period leading up to and including16/08 Lonmin, together with its Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner, Shanduka Resources, set up the Sixteen Eight Memorial Trust Fund Trust fund last year to take care of the educational needs of the children of employees who died during the tragic events of August The fund, officially established in December 2012, covers all educational costs, from primary school thorough to tertiary education. It is currently at R6.5 million and is open to donations from the public. 5

6 Previously, it was envisaged that the 147 children listed as beneficiaries would receive education available in their areas. However, following a visit to the families in the Eastern Cape in July 2013, Lonmin s CEO Ben Magara and members of his Exco made a decision to ensure these children will have access to the best possible education to match their needs and abilities. This could have a potentially life-changing effect on the children and their families by providing opportunities they would ordinarily not have had. The Trust has already had an impact on the children s lives with some of them now being able to attend school for the first time ever. The vision is for them to return to Lonmin one day as graduate professionals in the mining, engineering or accounting field. 6. Assistance provided to families of victims Contributions to date: Funeral costs Lonmin donated an amount of R to each family of all 46 victims to aid in funeral costs (this includes both Lonmin and non-lonmin employees). TEBA contributed to additional costs including transport, accommodation and meals for the families. The total funeral costs amounted to R Provident Fund A total of 200 beneficiaries were listed for the 41 deceased Lonmin employees. To date all main members have received the first pay-out from the fund. Due to outstanding administrative information not received from the beneficiaries (including bank statements, birth certificates and ID Documents), a total of 16 claims are still pending. These claims are not from the main members but secondary nominees. Sanlam is administrating additional beneficiaries not listed. Education Trust A total of R has been donated to the Sixteen Eight Memorial Trust (see above), of which R has been paid to dependants for the 2013 school year. The fund has 147 beneficiaries listed. 7. Annexures Key contacts Sue Lindsell-Stewart +27 (0) Sue.Vey@lonmin.com Cecilia de Almeida Brunswick Group +27 (83) cdealmeida@brunswick.co.za James Clark Cardew London +44 (0) James.clark@cardew.com Lonmin media centre +27 (0) /2055 media@lonmin.com 6

7 Media release regarding Lonmin Women s Peace March, which took place on 1 August 2 August 2013 Enough is Enough! That was the clear message from the Women of Lonmin who took to the streets of Wonderkop on 1 August in support of peace and tolerance in their local communities. The women, who marched under the banner of Lonmin Women for Peace, were joined by local community members as well as church and civic leaders to mark the start of Women s Month. Said Natascha Viljoen, Executive Vice President, Processing and Sustainability, and champion of Lonmin s Women in Mining Programme: We decided to start Women s Month with a symbolic gesture of unity with the local community. Women bear the brunt of violence and this march was a call for women everywhere to stand up and say no to violence and to urge everyone in our communities to commit to living and working together peacefully. It was a humbling experience and indeed a proud one to walk amongst such powerful and passionate women. Peace is the foundation for a stable, sustainable future, and that must surely be a goal worth striving for, she added. Among the civic leaders taking part in the Peace Rally was Messina Ouma Makgope, well-known businesswoman, educator and activist. Ms Makgope, who was born, bred and schooled in Wonderkop, congratulated the women for taking a stand against violence, oppression and abuse, urging them to draw a line in the sand and say No more. Enough is Enough. She called on women to be defiant in the face of adversity and refuse to be victims: Regardless of what happens to you, stand proud and say I am still here. Lending their support to the group of almost 2000 women were local pastors and Lonmin CEO, Ben Magara, Mark Munroe, Executive Vice President for Mining and Barnard Olefile Mokwena, Executive Vice President of Human Capital. Mr Magara said: The anniversary of the week that changed our lives is almost upon us and I cannot think of a better response than to come together with the local community to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again in our company, our community and our country. 7