Theorising Local Content Development and Social Justice: The Case of Zimbabwe’s Platinum Mining Communities

Research to date on local content development (LCD) has been largely focused on gas and oil with little being said regarding other sectors such as platinum mining. The definitions offered by different scholars with regards to LCD have also been biased towards economic and political perspectives at the expense of the social aspect of the subject. Such narrow understanding of LCD has only considered the interest of the private sector and the host government while neglecting the potential input of mining communities in the mining value chain. This paper, focuses on community-based activism and LCD in the platinum mining communities of Zimbabwe. Through desk research, participant observation and key informant interviews conducted targeting community-based activists, it was found out that mining communities view LCD mainly as a social justice issue infusing it in the discourse of mining frames that embrace the economic, political and social dimensions of LCD. LCD and social justice advocate socio-politico-economic fairness, equity and equality and indeed both converge on egalitarianism. The paper contributes to knowledge on LCD and community activism. It recommends that mining policy and legislative frameworks be sensitive to social implications of mining on local mining communities.