SOCIAL PLAN COMPLIANCE
World Bank watchdog to probe Lonmin stake
The World Bank’s compliance adviser ombudsman has recommended an investigation of its investment arm’s $50m cash injection into Lonmin after it heard complaints that the platinum miner had received community support for its project but had failed to comply with a social and labour plan. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, invested $50m in Lonmin by buying shares in the world’s third-largest platinum miner in 2007. It subsequently sold the stake eight years later. Lonmin sought the investment for a cash injection into its mining operations, where a mechanisation programme was under way as well as a community and local economic development programme. The mechanisation programme was a failure and, by all accounts, its social and labour investment programme has been ineffective and was thrown into stark relief during the upheavals on its mines in 2012, which culminated in police shooting dead 34 protesters near Lonmin’s Marikana operations. A number ...
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