GM’s Message

From the GM’s Desk

Since the discovery of anthracite in the Zululand District of what is now KwaZulu-Natal province in 1981, and subsequent development into mining operations in 1985, Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC) has been a central part of the social, business, and broader fabric of the Zululand District Municipality.

Menar, our investment company, acquired ZAC in 2016. The mine was at different stages owned by BHP Billiton (from 1985), Riversdale Mining (from 2005) and Rio Tinto (from 2011). It was on the verge of closure until Menar turned the operation around to the benefit of the workers and community who hold a combined 26% stake in the operation.

ZAC is not just a mine. It is a virtual city with community and workers forming an integral part of our family-like structure. At ZAC, most of the skilled employees live in park homes. Some people travel great distances to get to the mine, although over 80% of workers have, over the years, been drawn from the local communities.

Challenges: From geology to stakeholder relations

We fall under the four traditional councils of Mlaba, Matheni, Mandlakazi and Zungu, which are governed by His Majesty King Zwelithini Goodwill kaBhekuzulu’s Ingonyama Trust. ZAC’s main stakeholders are the community leadership structures in the form of Traditional Councils and the Ingonyama Trust who ensure that the material welfare and social wellbeing of the communities are realised. These community leadership structures are our primary hosts, and we value the guidance and stability they provide not only to the local population but also to investors. They appreciate that the most important contribution they can make to improve the lives of the people is to create a conducive environment for employment opportunities.

We are permanently mining in difficult low-seam conditions that are by no means an easy task. ZAC is a deep mine with the Ngwabe shaft being one of the few coal mines in South Africa that is below sea level, currently at 287-m-underground. Managing community relations with various stakeholders, geology, as well as the location of the mine, contribute to the difficult mining conditions. Despite all of these challenges, the mining teams go underground every day and mine for 10 hours per shift to make ZAC successful. These are made to ensure the mine does well and that all stakeholders including workers and the community reap the benefits of a profitable mine.

Sustainable Community Development

With regards to our Local Economic Development (LED) projects, ZAC has changed the lives of many in the community by building and refurbishing dams, providing water by means of sinking new boreholes, installing solar lights at strategic points identified by the Zululand District Municipality as well as building toilets for homesteads around the community. Furthermore, our fruitful and detailed engagements with the Department of Education have led to ZAC assisting in the construction of toilet blocks at schools around the mine within the four traditional councils of Mlaba, Matheni, Mandlakazi and Zungu.

Supporting job-creation

Furthermore, ZAC is very proud of the developments made concerning our Social and Labour Plan (SLP) commitments. ZAC has awarded many bursaries, learnerships, internships as well as hosted Youth Employment Service (YES) learners, who have been part of our team. The YES project is a flagship initiative of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In addition to providing jobs and contracting opportunities for community-based entrepreneurs, ZAC invests heavily in community upliftment projects. We supply 42 million litres of clean, potable water to communities through 20 km of water pipes that we built. ZAC also runs education programmes, agricultural programmes, operator training initiatives and youth skills training programmes.

A window to the future

We continue to invest in the mine to improve capacity and efficiencies and aim to expand our capacity in years to come, should market conditions, prices and customer demand be favourable.

The continuation of this operation is crucial for the economic development of the community. To quote the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, who said during a visit to the mine: “ZAC is a very important business in Zululand, and it must be protected and supported by the community and workers”

2022 and Beyond

ZAC has concrete production, plant washing and sales targets for the next 12 to 36 months. Focussed management and employee cooperation will ensure that these targets are achieved.

As part of this ongoing employer-employee engagement, the ZAC values of competence, hard work and cooperation will be continually reinforced and emphasised as we overcome hurdles in the way of our attainment of targets.

Achieving our targets over the next 12 months will have great benefits for every employee and our neighbouring communities. I am looking forward to the growth that we will all achieve together as this is extremely important for the future of the mine and the sustainability of the business. Teamwork, good communication and consistency will help us overcome these challenges and together we will keep pushing ZAC to new levels of excellence and achieving greater goals. By working together we can achieve our health, safety, production and sales targets and improve our collective circumstances.