South African companies are increasingly looking for investment opportunities in the wider SADC region in a bid to benefit from favourable international markets for minerals, in competition with western and Asian companies. These investments have social and environmental impacts on people working in, and living around, mines. This book assesses South African mining and gas companies corporate governance and social responsibilities in five SADC countries: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe .
The expectation is high on the continent that companies from a country such as South Africa that has a strong rights-based constitution will adhere to globally accepted environmental and human rights standards when investing outside their home country borders, even in fragile states where regulation is difficult to implement and monitor. The main finding is that most SA companies behavior is appalling. Generally they do not respect their development agreement and operate differently from Chinese or Western companies.