The term “just transition” was originally used by the labour movement to refer to a transformative vision of infusing social justice into the transition to clean energy. Unfortunately, much like the phrases “good governance” and “social responsibility”, it has come to be an aspiration the government and the private sector only profess commitment to.
The verdict of research by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and Stellenbosch University is that, instead of a just energy transition, the reality is unjust energy apartheid. The researchers examined satellite images of South African neighbourhoods during peak load-shedding (up to 12 hours a day) and observed that predominantly white suburbs looked curiously bright, while predominantly black areas were in darkness.
Delving deeper, the study found that the explosion of household solar energy was only benefiting a white minority: the solar panel area per household was a staggering 73 times higher in white rather than in black areas.
Despite the central role played by the mining sector in the dispossession, exploitation and discrimination of communities under colonialism and apartheid, mining houses such as Anglo American Platinum have joined the chorus of business voices professing commitment to the just transition. In their glossy Climate Change reports, they profess their commitment to the just transition and outline their emissions reductions plans. Like several other mining companies, this includes their own renewable energy generation ventures, namely Anglo’s joint venture with EDF Renewables.
As has been documented across the country, including by community networks such as Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), the reality on the ground is anything but just. People living near mines battle issues common for mining-affected communities including unemployment, poor services, water pollution and a rising costs of living, including electricity. Opened with fanfare, Twickenham has been placed under care and maintenance for nearly 10 years, exacerbating unemployment while the vast fenced off gash in the landscape remains.
According to its Integrated Development Plan, the local Fetakgomo Tubatse municipality hosts an estimated 41 mining operations. Yet, the most recent statistics cited by the municipality show the unemployment rate reached as high as 61% in 2021.
Recently Anglo American Platinum joined the increasing numbers of large mining houses exiting South Africa without fundamentally rectifying its colonial legacy. Saturday, 31 May 2025 marked the demerger of Anglo American Platinum, which no longer falls under the Anglo corporate structure and has been renamed Valterra Platinum.
It does not have to be this way. Anglo American Platinum’s successor, like all mining companies, is legally required to invest in the development of host communities under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act through social and labour plan (SLP) projects. An ever-growing pile of reports by the Human Rights Commission, Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) and MACUA among others show that SLPs are failing to bring about meaningful and lasting development in communities.
Valterra and other mining houses have an opportunity to develop SLP infrastructure and income generating projects of a suitable scale, ambition and rigour to rectify this. In this effort to reimagine the SLP, they could draw upon the ideas of local community organisations such as Sekhukhune Combined Mining Affected Communities (SCMAC). The SCMAC has, for several years, called on Anglo Platinum to equip communities to be able to generate electricity to sell to Twickenham and other mines.
The SCMAC has been proactive to the extent of enlisting partners such as 350 Africa, CALS and Ahinasa to research the needs of villages and produce a report proposing an initial plan that could receive rigorous feasibility testing and eventual rollout with the support of Anglo American Platinum and other role players.
Anglo American Platinum has, however, repeatedly failed to offer any concrete support even in the form of pilot projects and feasibility studies. Both company representatives and mine management were conspicuously absent at two events connected to a newly published research report making the case for Anglo’s support notwithstanding invitations and prior engagements by the SCMAC.
Valtera might respond that there is limited funding available because Twickenham generates no revenue being in care and maintenance. This does not hold water as Valterra is a vast revenue-generating group of companies and its decision to keep Twickenham non-operational for more than 10 years necessitates more social expenditure to be making a meaningful contribution to economic development of the area.
They might also argue that as just one company they cannot solely be responsible for addressing systemic problems and can only play a supplementary role to the government. But this assumes that they have done everything they can possibly do.
Have they?
In 2024, Anglo American Platinum generated nearly R109 billion in revenue and R9.1 billion in basic earnings. During the platinum boom in 2022, the company was more generous to shareholders than surrounding communities – while the former received a cash dividend of R9 billion, community development was given about 7% of that amount. Surely Valterra Platinum can allocate funds towards developmental projects such as socially owned renewable energy as part of a responsible disengagement.
Anglo American Platinum (in its new guise as Valterra Platinum) and other mining companies therefore have a choice: perpetuate energy apartheid or make good on their commitment to contribute towards a just transition worthy of its name.
Robert Krause is the acting head of Environmental Justice at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Wits University