Engaging with government and local communities
Our board and management are acutely mindful of our company’s place in the South African economy and society.We are committed to doing everything within our power and ambit to bring to reality the objectives of the National Development Plan of 2011 and to realise the inclusive, prosperous society which that plan envisages.
In discharging these responsibilities, we interact consistently and proactively with a broad range of stakeholders. These stakeholders include many individuals as well as the elected representatives of the communities in which we make, transport and sell our steel.
In the government sphere we communicate constantly with the executives of local and district municipalities, provincial and national government as well as the organs of these spheres of government. Government at all levels enforces compliance with environmental and other legislation and grants us the permits and licences we need to operate. Policies, including those relating to issues such as energy tariffs, carbon tax, environment, the regulation of imports and exports, and broad-based black economic empowerment, have a direct impact on our business.
Broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE)
As with any company operating in South Africa, we need to embrace transformation and be able to clearly demonstrate that we are working affirmatively to change who we are and how we operate. Our board and management are united in approaching B-BBEE as an opportunity to incentivise our creation of broad-based social and human capital. By improving our empowerment credentials, we support our customers, suppliers and employees and cement our various licenses to operate. Our mindset is that our B-BBEE performance is largely about people.
In 2022, we stated that we had self-assessed our latest overall B-BBEE score at level 8. In fact, our performance was subsequently externally verified as being level 6.
Last year, we also reported that we were “looking towards 2024 when (for recording and reporting in 2025) we are confident of attaining a level 4 compliance – and maintaining this”. Although we now assess that our overall B-BBEE outcome for 2023 was level 7 (with us being discounted one level), we remain confident of reporting level 4 compliance in 2025.
Systems to manage our environmental impact
ArcelorMittal South Africa is governed by the global ArcelorMittal environmental policy. The group has directed that all production facilities comply with ISO 14001, an internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems. During the year the group also launched the ArcelorMittal energy policy and energy management system. These cover every aspect of how the group purchases, uses and monitors energy, from technology upgrades to the integration of energy efficiency priorities into our equipment design. We also follow the principles of ArcelorMittal South Africa’s safety, health and environmental (SHE) policy, which is aligned with the group’s environmental policy.
Highlights on the environmental front during recent years include the completion of the new dust extraction unit at Vereeniging Works, the launch of the zero effluent discharge project at Newcastle Works and our ongoing engagement with various stakeholder groups on environmental issues.
Environmental Policy