Rössing acknowledges that operating within a sustainable community provides our business distinct benefits, such as skilled and locally available employees, capable local suppliers of goods and services, access to sustainably managed natural resources, and healthy and safe environments for our employees and their families.

An important part of that is good community relations, which is as necessary for our business success as the effective management of our operations. With this in mind, we implement long-term community development plans that focus on improvements in quality of life. In 2021, we continued successful efforts to maintain these mutually beneficial relationships.

Rössing Uranium remains committed to long-term stakeholder relationships that are mutually beneficial and executed in a respectful manner.

Honouring our corporate social responsibilities, we accomplished this through continued investment under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our activities are also aligned with the Chamber of Mines of Namibia’s Mining Charter, Namibia’s Fifth National Development Plan (NDP5) and the Harambee Prosperity Plan.

In 2021, Rössing Uranium supported the Rössing Foundation and other community initiatives with about N$14 million, of which close to N$12 million went to the Rössing Foundation, N$1.6 million to COVID-related donations and over N$400,000 was in-kind and cash contributions to worthy community initiatives. This is over and above the direct and indirect economic benefits we created through local employment and the procurement of goods and services from local businesses.

In 2021, the focus was on the “Bigger-Than-Me” project in conjunction with the Willem Borchard Primary School (WBPS) situated in Okombahe in the northern part of the Erongo Region. A wide range of community activities were initiated or supported, some of which are reported below, and fall under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 17 of “Partnerships for the Goals”.

 

 

Mentorship programme — Girl-Child project

Mentorship provides one with a mentally safe place to land. Questions can be asked, ideas can be bounced off a reliable source, fears and dreams can be shared with a trusted advisor. Rössing embarked on a journey with WBPS where eight grade 6 learners were identified to participate in a three-year support programme.

An induction session was held with the mentors to ensure that they know the boundaries, would be able to identify red flags and could gauge their own competence for the planned journey with pliable minds. One face-to-face session was held. Thereafter, the mentors were expected to reach out to the mentees through the support teachers that had been allocated to them or directly with the mentee. This proved to be quite challenging, as data and access to a reliable means of telecommunication was a big stumbling block. Initially, some mentors experienced anxiety, as they felt their own experiences and academic prowess would not be sufficient to provide the safety net or the needed guidance their mentees might need.

To address these perceived challenges, support structures were put in place at WBPS through the provision of a television screen and a laptop to aid face-to-face sessions, and to provide their mentees — and the rest of the school population — with the means to access the world wide web in a safe and supervised environment.

In addition to this, a ‘Protective Behaviours’ workshop was organised with the aid of consulting firm, Rapha Counselling and Consulting Services, which imparted an accredited qualification to mentees to work with the daily emotional and physical vulnerabilities that our children face. This training event was extended to teachers at WBPS as well as the community that the school springs from, because as the adage goes, it truly takes a village to raise a child.

The first year of the project has been closed off as a foundational intervention. 2022 is geared towards growth and potential, with the third year slated for closure and disengagement.

NaDEET Outreach – STEM support

Efficient energy use, sustainable interactions and environmental stewardship were the key drivers for a three-year partnering agreement between Rössing and the urban centre of Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET) located in Swakopmund.

In 2019, Rössing took a team of learners and teachers from Kahenge in Kavango West Region to the NamibRand Centre that NaDEET runs in the south of Namibia. The visit was a great success and the intention was to repeat it in 2020; however, the gazetted regulations around social distancing and the limit on numbers for public gatherings necessitated the cancellation of the planned event.

In 2021, planning was adapted to the changed conditions and NaDEET was approached to rather have two trainers going out to the learners’ community instead of taking a group of fifty learners and teacher to their NamibRand centre.

This partnership agreement and willingness to innovate in challenging times saw the grade 6 learners at WBPS, community members, and the teachers at the school gain insights into:

• Global warming and its impact on our daily lives,
• Solar stove training,
• Energy and sustainable use – light bulbs’ energy use,
• Fireball making – to be used as an alternative to wood,
• Tjo-tjo stove training for community members, feeding scheme volunteer and a community member who runs a soup kitchen, and
• Waste separation and recycling.

A cleaning campaign was hosted at the school the day before the three-day training commenced. The aim was to not only to get the learners invested in the sessions, but also to show how we can use everyday items in a more sustainable way and that there are alternatives to the current norm of plastic packaging to keep items clean and hygienic.

After the training, the school kept four of the six solar stoves that were made available by Rössing for use in the school feeding scheme, which is currently making use of two three-legged pots and wood collected from the veld surrounding Okombahe.

 

 

Solar stove training for community members and learners at Willem Borchard Primary School.	Mentors of the mentorship programme: (from left to right back row) Petra Anton, Benetton Jacobs, Markus Shifotoka; (front row) Pamela Geises, Edwich Hoaes and project leader, Amanda Horn.

Redundant Equipment Donation – STEM support

A laptop donation with software programmes loaded was donated to WBPS for the mentorship programme online sessions and for research purposes at the school. A television set was also donated for the mentorship programme’s online sessions.

Ann Pads project – Girl-Child project

The distribution of ‘Ann Pads’ sanitary protection is ongoing. The learners from the Senior Secondary School have also been included in the distribution. However, the school has not yet started the income generation component, but plans to do so in 2022. The school has started a SHE project as a result of the AnnPad initiative. At the monthly meetings on a Saturday learners discuss gender specific issues and are provided with a safe space to seek and find answers for challenges they are facing as they mature.

Infrastructure support

Waste-separation bins are being constructed by Rössing’s Plate shop team in collaboration with on-site contractor, Jepe Construction. These will be in support of the Education for Sustainable Development programme at WBPS. The steel for the frame is being bought, while Rössing’s redundant pallets are being re-purposed to form the wooden framework.

The Arandis-located Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) was approached for help, and they agreed to refurbish broken chairs and tables that were collected from the school and then taken back after being repaired. Rössing covered the cost of the transport provider, while NIMT carried the cost of the refurbishment.

Shipanga Enterprises, an Arandis-based company, was contracted to construct cement tables and chairs for WBPS’s feeding scheme, enough to accommodate 400 learners. The tables and chairs were built in front of the feeding scheme kitchen that was moved from the front of the school to the back where there was ample space for the cement tables and chairs.

While on site at the school, Shipanga Enterprises supported the school with transport to move a water tank to the school, as water provision for daily needs for sanitising, cooking, and use in the toilets remains a challenge for the school. They have also committed to support the school with the replacement of broken windows on some school buildings.

Rapha Counselling Services – Girl-Child project

A need was identified to train the peer educators on sensitivity and equip them with tools to run their individual mentoring sessions. Rapha Counselling was brought on board for a three- year period of the “Bigger-Than-Me” project to:

• Conduct training on Protective Behaviours for the mentors, the teachers from both the primary and secondary schools, community members and community leaders,
• Conduct a ‘Care for the Carer’ workshop with the mentors (this was to raise awareness on self-care, prevent burn-out and to teach the mentors coping mechanism), and
• Conduct online counselling and mentoring sessions over the three-year period with the mentors.

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INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
COMMUNICATIONS

The social expectations from mining companies are continuously changing with the license to operate becoming more complex. Corporate communications plays a key role in how investors, government, communities, media and the general public perceive the company.

Rössing’s broad and complex stakeholder groupings require to be kept abreast about company developments and the mine’s strategic direction through the identification of the best possible communication channels.

Internal communications

Employees are one of the key stakeholders of any organisation, as such the mine undertook an internal communication survey to examine the effectiveness of internal communication amongst the workforce in terms of how employees view the flow of information, the frequency, channels and types of information shared.

The survey was furthered aimed at identifying areas of strength, best practice, and opportunities for improving internal communication.

In support of the Business Integration (BI) workshops, which were rolled out during 2021, a BI communication plan was developed and successfully implemented. The highlight of the plan was the departmental value stars who were featured in the various communication platforms, the use of animation and comics to simplify the key messages, as well as the roll-out of the new corporate video.

Various Managing Director’s briefs and COVID-19 newsletters were issued throughout the year to keep employees updated on the status of the pandemic and the guidelines and procedures of Rössing’s Covid-19 Emergency Response Plan.

External communications

One of the milestones during 2021 was the communication of the findings of the Epidemiological study of certain cancer types among Rössing Uranium workers (“Health study”) to key stakeholders. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its related restrictions, virtual feedback sessions were held to share the findings with various stakeholders of the mine.

The sessions were well attended, and stakeholders were given an opportunity to seek clarity and pose questions to the University of Manchester who were appointed by Rössing’ s previous majority shareholder, Rio Tinto, to undertake the study.

Stakeholder engagement

The mine’s senior management engaged the following key stakeholders on several matters of mutual interest:

• Minister of Mines and Energy,
• Governor of Erongo Region,
• Chamber of Mines of Namibia
• Namibia Uranium Association (NUA),
• Namibia Competitions Commission,
• Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism,
• Ministry of of Labour, Insustrial Relations and Employement Creation
• Deputy Minister of Finance,
• Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, and
• Swakopmund Constituency Councillor, amongst others.

The public tours under the mine’s visitors programme remained closed during 2021 due to COVID-19; however, the following smaller groups totalling 57 visitors were hosted on site:

• The Louw family,
• Erongo Governor and NUA Director,
• Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform,
• Ministry of Mines and Energy,
• Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA),
• Geological Survey of Namibia,
• International Union of Geological Sciences, and
• Resourcing Future Generations.

Media

In our continued effort of maintaining an open and transparent relationship with the media, several media releases where pro-actively issued on key developments at the mine as well as providing timeous responses to media queries to create balanced coverage of our operations and business activities.

Social media

In November 2021, Rössing proudly launched its Facebook page. As a business, social media offers the opportunity to build relationships with key stakeholders, humanise our brand and participate in dialogue to further our strategy. It also allows us to be more responsive to a constantly changing world. We are looking forward to growing our following and share valuable information with our stakeholders on this platform.

Rössing Marathon

Rössing Uranium commemorated it’s 30 years’ anniversary as the official sponsor of the Rössing National Marathon Championship hosted by Swakop Striders Athletics Club on 19 June 2021 under the theme “Celebrating 30 years of road running.”

To ensure adherence to the Covid-19 restrictions and measures in place and keeping the health of our runners as priority, Rössing decided to host this milestone event with its first virtual marathon, with runners participating from wherever they find themselves countrywide. A total of 302 participants took part in the marathon.