Scattered and remote communities rely on extensive infrastructure and socio-economic development. This is expensive and frequently exceeds the capacity and capital budgets of the local authorities. These authorities, or municipalities, rely on integrated development plans (IDPs) to guide their capital spend and infrastructure delivery. The effectiveness of IDPs is subject to their relevance and also to their being informed by mining companies’ social and labour plans (SLPs) and their local economic development programmes.

Enterprise and supplier development is also driven by the DTI’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Codes of Good Practice. These focus on enterprise and supplier development, skills development, preferential procurement and socio-economic development.