24 Jul 2022

Parliament on Friday rejected a motion on the introduction of a mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) law for mining companies.

The motion was tabled in the previous meeting of Parliament in March by Sefhare/Ramokgonami MP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang.

Through the motion, Dr Gobotswang wanted government to “introduce a law setting a mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for a specified proportion of profits before tax for all extraction companies operating in the Republic of Botswana so as to provide mitigation against the adverse impact of mining on communities that host extraction companies.”

He said while revenue from minerals should continue benefiting the whole nation, there should be a law specifically for beneficiation of communities from mining areas because they were the ones adversely affected by negative effects of mining on their environment.

Dr Gobotswang said having a mandatory CSR law would assist in spelling how much mining companies would assist communities living in mining areas. He said companies currently decided for themselves how they assisted communities through donations most of the time.

“We know the adverse effects suffered by communities living in mining areas such as environmental degradation and loss of grazing land for their livestock,” said the MP on Friday.

He said some people had even suffered health complications as a result of environmental and water pollution caused by mining activities in their areas.

Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi opposed the motion, arguing that CSR activities were already regulated through the Economic Inclusion Act of 2021.

Dr Gobotswang, however, said the Economic Inclusion Act was not enough because it did  not specify the proportion of profits that companies should spend on CSR activities.

Parliament, however, rejected the motion with 29 MPs opposing it and 17 supporting it. ends