Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 16

BENCH MARKS CENTRE FOR
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

W

ithin the Focus Area:
Social Transformation
at the Potchefstroom
Campus of the North West University (NWU), extensive research
on Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) and Sustainable Development (SD), especially in the mining
sector, was done over the last eight
years. Since 2007, researchers
in this field at the NWU started to
collaborate with the Bench Marks
Foundation (BMF), an international independent organisation that
monitors corporate performance
in CSR, with a particular focus on
social sustainability and economic
empowerment.
Through the networks and funding capacity of the Foundation, this
CSR research initiative was extended throughout the mining sector of
the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), amongst others Botswana, the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi and Zambia. The joint venture
eventually lead to the establishing of a brand new research centre for CSR at the Potchefstroom
Campus, namely the Bench Marks
Centre for CSR; the new centre

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was formally launched in January
2012. Prof. Freek Cronjé, former
head of the Subject Group: Sociology is heading the centre as Director.
The establishment of the new centre is an important development for
South Africa, which is considered
a world leader in mining. With the
research generated by the unit,
mainly focused on the social dimension of development, mining
companies can now up their game
when it comes to CSR. Issues that
will be looked at within the mining
context, which includes adjacent

Suzanne Reyneke

CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW

Pieter de Ras

mining communities, include: poverty and unemployment, labour
issues, health, infra-structure, migration, stakeholder dialogue and
engagement, supply chain management as well as the longevity
of natural resources.
“We have a diverse province and
region [SADC] in which mining
activities in particular figure quite
extensively”, says Prof Cronjé.
“Thousands of employees are involved and we must make sure
that the wellbeing of these communities is looked after.”

Prof. Freek Cronjé