Towards community benefits derived from mining : assessing the potential role of community development agreements in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Mining is a significant economic contributor in both developing and developed countries. The industry is responsible for the creation of cities, communities, industries, employment, and infrastructure. Although mining has positive economic benefits, there are negative social, economic, and environmental consequences of mining. There are host communities that are yet to see the benefits of mining activities. This has placed community development in mining areas at discussions of the benefits of mining outside the economy. Zimbabwe as a developing country has placed mining at the centre of its development agenda. With the industry receiving investments. This begs the question of whether communities will receive equitable benefits from continued mining operations. To address the issue of community development, Zimbabwe enacted the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act. With the aim of providing measures for the economic empowerment of indigenous Zimbabweans. This was to be achieved by ensuring that indigenous Zimbabweans had a controlling stake in businesses. To this end community share ownership trusts were promulgated into the indigenisation laws. These trusts were to receive a 10% ownership share in mining businesses and financial pledges to capitalize the trusts. The success of CSOTs has been a mixed bag with most of the CSOTs non-functional. With the amendments to the Indigenisation laws, the legal position of CSOT is not clear. This study examines the potential of community development agreements (CDAs) as a tool that ensures communities receive equitable benefits. It investigates this potential by analysing the Zimbabwean legal framework. It looks at CDA as a tool that might be utilized in Zimbabwe by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of CDAs. This also includes examining how other jurisdictions have adopted CDAs. In countries such as Australia and Canada, the negotiation of CDAs has become standard practice for all new resource development projects. This study will examine the approaches taken by Australia, Canada, and South Africa into incorporating CDAs into their frameworks.