Kathu – SIOC Community Development Trust (SIOC-CDT) recently completed the process of community representative trustees’ elections to serve on the Board of Trustees which took place on the 16th November 2019. The successful candidates will represent the three beneficiary communities of Joe Morolong, Ga-Segonyana and Gamagara municipal jurisdictions.
In line with our strategy to be inclusive, community centric and involving our beneficiaries in the governance of the Trust, we embarked on an election process to afford beneficiary communities an opportunity to nominate and vote for their preferred community representative trustees to join the SIOC-CDT Board of Trustees. The process commenced in June 2019 with a broader awareness campaign during community roadshows held across the district and through various channels of communication aimed at reaching community members. This resulted in a turnout of 4000 registered voters across all participating beneficiary municipalities.
We forged partnerships with two independent electoral bodies namely, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and Independent Elections Facilitators of Southern Africa (IEFSA), to ensure that all stages of the election process are conducted in a fair and transparent manner. These bodies oversaw the process from registration of voters on the roll, nomination of candidates, objection period, vetting of candidates until the actual voting stage. The electronic voting system utilized played a major function of ensuring that there was no double or rigging of votes as it had the capabilities of picking up a voter on real time regardless of the voting station.
From the 4000 registered voters approximately 75% casted their votes across the 19 designated voting stations on election day. Mr Peace Leserwane became the successful candidate for Ga-segonyana, Mr Tebogo Motsaathebe (Kotsedi) for Joe Morolong and Mr Clement Itumeleng for Gamagara municipal area. The election results were endorsed by SIOC-CDT Board of Trustees. After publishing no objections were received an objection period was opened for community members and no objections were received.
On the 3rd December 2019 during SIOC-CDT annual stakeholder day, the Board Chairman Mr Conway Molusi officially welcomed the above-mentioned successful candidates to the Board of Trustees and introduced them to the community. He emphasised how much of a mammoth task it is bestowed upon trustees in ensuring good governance and adherence to the applicable laws governing the Trust while not compromising the benefits that must flow to communities that are sustainable.
SIOC-CDT CEO, Mr Vusani Malie also reiterated how important these community representative trustees elections were during his performance overview presentation to the stakeholder day attendees when he said, “As challenging as this process was it ought to be done in the manner in which it was conducted as demonstration that inputs from our communities are considered and taken into cognisance when reshaping, redefining and developing organizational strategies, this was indeed the plea and the will of our beneficiary communities”.
The CEO also committed to speed up the process of filling the Tsantsabane community representative trustee vacancy in the first quarter of 2020FY.
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About SIOC-CDT
SIOC Community Development Trust (SIOC-CDT) was established in 2006 by Sishen Iron Ore Company (SIOC) (Pty) Ltd to invest in the uplifting of the communities in which the mining company operates in the Northern Cape and Limpopo. We invest significantly in community development projects aimed at ensuring sustainability beyond mining operations.
SIOC-CDT has substantiated its stated intention of “defining ourselves through actions, not our words” by investing over R1 billion in socio-economic and community development projects in its beneficiary communities; Gamagara, Tsantsabane, Ga-Segonyana and Joe Morolong in the Northern Cape, as well as Thabazimbi in Limpopo.
For more information, contact:
Refilwe Sebogodi Stakeholder Relations and Communications Executive refilwe@sioc-cdt.co.za | 082 901 8364