Our vision is sustainable, responsible local procurement that positively contributes to a resilient supply chain and the economic and social development of the communities in which we operate.
- Local procurement can assist in obtaining and maintaining our licence to operate
- $1.7 billion expenditure on suppliers based in host communities close to our operations
- R39.3 billion spent with Historically Disadvantaged South African businesses
By engaging local businesses in our supply chain, we can make a significant positive contribution to our host communities. Effective local procurement practices can contribute to job creation and skills development, improve efficiencies in our supply chain by lowering logistics costs, and facilitate secure access to critical goods and services.
In 2010, we launched a Group-wide local procurement policy, in recognition of the strategic importance of fostering social development in host communities. Our focus in 2011 was building awareness of the policy, developing guidelines and tools, building internal capacity to support the policy and assisting our mining operations to develop their local procurement strategies. We have also increased supplier development initiatives, and are beginning to introduce simpler terms and conditions and payment terms that accommodate the needs of small and medium enterprises.
However, we do not have all the answers. One size most certainly does not fit all in this undertaking to find, mentor and support local suppliers technically and commercially so to date we have been looking at a range of different approaches:
- Providing seed funding
- Providing commercial processes and advice
- Incubating entrepreneurial talent
- Working with large global multinational suppliers to source locally and share their commercial and technical skills
- Supporting suppliers to become globally competitive
- Creating infrastructure like ‘Supplier Clusters’, allowing suppliers to share facilities and leverage off each other’s networks and capabilities
- Integrating China sourcing with local support
- Partnering with global Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
Find out more in our local procurement policy.
