Lending patterns and adaptations made to the Grameen Bank Model in South Africa
- Authors: Moolla, Raeesa
- Date: 2011-12-12
- Subjects: Microfinance , Banks and banking , Grameen Bank Model (Bangladesh) , Grameencredit
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:1887 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/4241
- Description: M.A. , In South Africa, high unemployment rates, uneven distribution of opportunities and poverty are major concerns for the government. Poverty is defined as the deprivation of people due to the lack of access, and their right, to certain commodities. In 2004, close to 15,4 million people were living below the poverty line. In addition to this, in 2005, 53 percent of South Africans, equating to 16,4 million persons, were excluded from formal financial services. Microcredit has been advocated as a tool to reduce poverty. A world renowned microfinance model, the Grameen Bank model of Bangladesh has had success in not only reducing poverty, but also allowing poor people access to formal financial services. The bank has 7,93 million borrowers, with 97 percent being female clients, and one third of its borrowers have crossed the poverty line. Four organisations in South Africa have replicated this model. These organisations are the Small Enterprise Foundation, Marang Financial Services, The Women's Development Businesses, and the South African National Zakah Fund. These organisations have achieved in reaching 130,000 clients across South Africa, and extended over R1 billion in loans. However, only four of the nine provinces in the country have been infiltrated effectively. The impacts on these borrowers lives, and their households has been exceptional. Many of the families now have increased selfworth, a stable income, job security and access to credit in order to advance their businesses. In addition, Grameencredit has allowed thousands of South Africans access to legal, formal financial services. Thus, Grameencredit has been advocated to be an effective method in the fight against poverty.
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Dust deposition impacts at a liquidated gold mine Village : Gauteng province in South Africa
- Authors: Mpanza, Mbalenhle , Adam, Elhadi , Moolla, Raeesa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: TSFs , Windblown dust , Respiratory illnesses
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/451526 , uj:39791 , Citation: Mpanza, M., Adam, E. & Moolla, R. 2020. Dust deposition impacts at a liquidated gold mine Village : Gauteng province in South Africa. , DOI:10.3390/ijerph17144929
- Description: Abstract: The windy season brings numerous community complaints for gold mining companies situated in theWitwatersrand due to windblown dust from partially rehabilitated tailings storage facilities (TSFs). For communities encroaching onto TSFs, windblown dust is perceived as a health hazard and an environmental challenge. In a study conducted in 2017 by the Lawyers for Human Rights, the community of a gold mine village perceived tailings storage facility 6 (TSF6) and other surrounding tailings storage facilities which are partially rehabilitated to be a health and socio-economic threat. Since 2013, when a nearby gold mining company was liquidated, this community has been complaining about dust fallout. To validate the claims made by the community this paper reports on the dust deposition impacts, and respiratory illnesses risk posed by wind-blown generated dust. The study conducts an air quality assessment using dispersion modelling of windblown dust. Surface material from the TSFs was sampled, analysed for silica and heavy metal content using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) respectively. This study finds that PM10 dust fallout, high in silica and uranium content, could potentially pose health threats to the surrounding community. The study further shows that dust deposition is the highest in July–October, with TSF6 posing a nuisance while TSF1 represents a potential health threat owing to its particle size distribution for the surrounding gold mine village community. Potential receptors of the air pollution by dust in this study area include neighbouring property owners, business owners of the nearby shopping centre, the school and the clinic. This study further finds that sudden mine closure due to mine liquidation results in unrehabilitated tailings storage facilities which exacerbates dust deposition.
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Perceptions of external costs of dust fallout from gold mine tailings : West Wits basin
- Authors: Mpanza, Mbalenhle , Adam, Elhadi , Moolla, Raeesa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Mine liquidation , Mine closure , Environment
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/455449 , uj:40311 , Citation: Mpanza, M., Adam, E. & Moolla, R. 2020. Perceptions of external costs of dust fallout from gold mine tailings : West Wits basin. , DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2020/30/1.7566
- Description: Abstract: Mining is essential for the South African economy, just like in many developing African nations. In 2017, mining was reported to contribute 6.8 % to the South African GDP and provided more than 460 000 jobs. Though the sector adds an enormous amount of value to the country, its activities have significant impacts on the environment and the socio-economic factors of society. The environmental impact of mining operations includes air pollution from dust and the well-documented impact on water resources in the form of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), creation of sinkholes and pollution of agricultural soils. Dust remains a persistent problem in South African urban areas due to the climatic conditions, extensive surface quarrying, unrehabilitated tailings storage facilities and mineral processing. However, very little is reported on the social and economic costs that accrue due to poor ecological management. Some scholars assert that despite the Mine Health and Safety Act, deposition monitoring guidelines and national dust regulations, South Africa still experiences persistent dust problems, especially in coal and gold mining districts. This paper investigates the perceptions of society on the effect of gold production dust pollution in and around a gold mining village (hereinafter referred to as the “gold mining village”) in South Africa. A mixed method was used, where a questionnaire and interviews were conducted to examine the gold mining village perceptions on dust pollution and their socio-economic environment. This paper further examines perceptions on how poor and premature mine closure through liquidation results in unrehabilitated mine tailings and how this has significant impacts on the quality of life of individuals and surrounding businesses. The community being investigated in this study perceives the dust fallout impact to be a threat on their living conditions. The paper finds that the community believes it incurs medical and financial expenses due to treating respiratory-related diseases triggered by dust fallout.
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A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
- Authors: Mpanza, Mbalenhle , Adam, Elhadi , Moolla, Raeesa
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Sudden mine closure , Liquidation , South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Journal article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/490499 , uj:44759 , Citation: Mpanza M, Adam E, Moolla R. A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies. J transdiscipl res S Afr. 2021;17(1), a985. https://doi.org/10.4102/ td.v17i1.985 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102 , ISSN: 2415-2005
- Description: Abstract: Background: Most mining operations are viable for a period of 30 years, depending on the mineral extracted and the available reserves. Whilst the expectation is that mines will continue uninterrupted until the planned period is complete, unscheduled closure can occur. Sudden and unplanned mine closure can result in immediate environmental and social impacts. In South Africa, the challenges of mine closure are exacerbated by unexpected sudden closures owing to winding-up and business rescue processes. The literature is inconclusive regarding these issues and there is poor integration of affected communities by mining operations. Aim: We reviewed South Africa’s legal frameworks relating to mine closure, the winding- up of gold mining companies and the impact of sudden closure on the environment and communities. Method: This review built on and extended previous systematic reviews. We focused on the regulation for fi provisioning for prospecting, mining, exploration and rehabilitation. Two examples of gold mining companies that were closed prematurely were examined. We also reviewed the mine closure and environmental policies of other countries, notably Australia and Canada and noticed similarities to South African policies. Results: Differences are evident in the enforcement of compliance in Australia and Canada, which are more proactive in dealing with the challenges of winding-up and its impacts. Conclusion: South Africa could adopt these countries’ models to enforce compliance and proactivity regarding sudden mine closure. One recommendation is to establish a fund for immediate rehabilitation in such cases as part of the temporary mine closure framework.
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Geostatistical techniques applied to local scale air quality assessment: West Wits Basin.
- Authors: Mpanza, Mbalenhle , Moolla, Raeesa
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Geostatistics , PM10 , Dust fallout
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/488475 , uj:44502 , Citation: Mpanza, M., Moolla, R., 2021. Geostatistical techniques applied to local scale air quality assessment: West Wits Basin.
- Description: Abstract: The impacts of dust fallout and PM10 ground level concentrations were investigated in this study due to the fact that a community located in the West Wits Basin, in Gauteng; near tailings storage facilities; had been complaining about dust, mostly during the windy season of July to October. The residents of this community started complaining immediately after a gold mining company suddenly closed due to being placed under provisional liquidation. In this study, the ability of Geostatistical techniques to assess local ambient air quality was investigated during the mine liquidation period. Geostatistics uses the theory of regionalized variables, that of producing the best estimation of the unknown value at some location within an area. Furthermore, dispersion modelling results from a previous study of the same site undertaken for the period of 2013 - 2017 were used to establish the extent of impacts from windblown dust. The results from the Kriging Interpolation were compared with the AERMOD model simulations of 2013-2017. In conclusion, this study found that Geostatistical techniques use statistics properties of dust samples to predict the probability of exceedance through interpolation maps, making it possible to visually assess the risk of population exposure to dust fallout and PM10. It was identified from the variation maps that at TSF6 there is an estimated 32 % chance of exceedance of the 40 μg/m3 NAAQS as shown by the indicator kriging. Furthermore, this study finds that there is a 54 % chance of exceedance of the 40 μg/m3 NAAQS around the area of TSF1. This study concludes that the use of geostatistics adds value to local scale air quality assessment for improved decision making for tailings storage facilities management
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