A Tale of Two Indabas

The text describes a divide between the official Mining Indaba in Cape Town and the concurrent Alternative Mining Indaba. While the main event focused on investment and corporate sustainability, the alternative event highlighted systemic issues including environmental pollution in Tanzania, lack of community consultation, and the marginalization of civil society through high registration fees and restrictive questioning formats during Corporate Social Responsibility sessions.

• High registration fees for the main Mining Indaba event effectively excluded most NGOs and community organizations from the primary discussions between mining companies and governments.
• Community organizations across various African countries reported consistent issues with mining operations, specifically regarding inadequate consultation, environmental degradation, violations of human and cultural rights during relocations, and tax regimes that benefit investors over local populations.
• Evidence was presented at the Alternative Mining Indaba regarding a 2009 chemical spill at a gold mine in Tanzania that allegedly caused skin conditions and illness in local villagers and livestock.
• The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Day of the main event was criticized for its timing at the end of the agenda and for using a question-card system that appeared to filter out pointed queries about mining pollution in Tanzania.
• There is a perceived conflict of interest in mining governance where politicians or military leaders engage in mining activities, and community advocates are often dismissed as "anti-development" when raising rights-based concerns.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2011). A Tale of Two Indabas. https://saiia.org.za/research/a-tale-of-two-indabas/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. A Tale of Two Indabas. 2011. https://saiia.org.za/research/a-tale-of-two-indabas/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=A Tale of Two Indabas |date=17 February 2011 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/a-tale-of-two-indabas/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2011tale, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{A Tale of Two Indabas}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2011}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/a-tale-of-two-indabas/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }