The Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) said it would launch a landmark investigative report exposing what it calls “Crumbs Capture” on Thursday, the 15th May 2025.
“Crumbs Capture” the union has described as a morally bankrupt system.
The Union said in a statement , it’s report seeks to uncover a R284-million shortfall in Social and Labour Plan (SLP) delivery. This is through projects promised, budgeted for, and publicly reported, yet never materialised.
MACUA’s Magnificent Mndebele, said in a statement, there are about R25 billion in potential developmental theft across South Africa’s mining sector.
“MACUA identifies this grand-scale theft as ‘Crumbs Capture’, a morally bankrupt system in which even the limited funds earmarked for development are misappropriated through inflated tenders, ghost projects, falsified delivery reports and elite capture, all while communities languish in deepening poverty.
The report— using participatory research, physical site verifications and testimonies from directly affected communities— is a culmination of three-year-long audits of 11 Social and Labour Plans (SLPs) of mining companies in North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State and Northern Cape.”
He also said “audited mining companies collectively reported over R376.25 million in SLP commitments, yet only R92.25 million was confirmed as actually delivered through infrastructure or community services.
This leaves a whopping R284-million unaccounted for, either undocumented, misrepresented or effectively lost to fraud and non-delivery. Collectively, the 11 companies generated an estimated R218.8 billion in turnover over the five-year SLP period, yielding profits estimated at R72.23 billion.”