Abstract The legislative system that provides for the socio-economic development of mining communities in South Africa has been under significant scrutiny in recent times. Various instances of conflict between mining communities and mining companies, of which the Marikana Massacre of 2012 is certainly the most noteworthy, show that mining communities expect mining companies to contribute more to the improvement of their living conditions. The relationship between mining communities and mining companies are exposed to the various socio-economic challenges that other sectors of the South African economy currently face. However, considering the legislative system in the mining industry specifically and in terms of a conceptual approach may show to the unique challenges the industry faces when it comes to mine community development. A conceptual approach requires asking whether the way in which the legislative system is framed and the rhetoric it promotes do not create expectations with mining communities that cannot be met by mining companies, because mining communities are not accurately depicted in the legislative system. The legislative system promotes “mine community development” by means of a complex interaction between various pieces of legislation and policy guidelines. At the centre of this interaction are the definitions of “community” and “mine community”. These definitions have been amended quite a few times since the enactment of the legislative system, attesting to the difficulty for the law to capture “community”. The latest iterations of the definitions are criticised for their ambiguity, causing uncertainty as to who should benefit from mine community development. This paper proposes that there is a conceptual problem when catering for communities, and not individuals, in a development paradigm, posing challenges for accurately defining “community”. It is not argued that community development should not be promoted, but a possible reason for why mine community development is not successful is proposed. The South African mining legislative system will be considered in parallel with relevant international legal instruments.

中文翻译：

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南非矿业社区发展：对法律与发展如何处理“社区”概念的批判性考虑

摘要近年来，为南非采矿社区的社会经济发展提供法律的制度受到了严格的审查。采矿社区与采矿公司之间发生的各种冲突事例（其中最值得关注的是2012年的马里卡纳大屠杀）表明，采矿社区希望采矿公司为改善其生活条件做出更多贡献。采矿社区与采矿公司之间的关系面临着南非经济其他部门当前面临的各种社会经济挑战。但是，特别考虑采矿业的立法制度并从概念上考虑可能会显示采矿业在矿山社区发展方面面临的独特挑战。一种概念上的方法要求询问立法体系的框架结构和所倡导的措辞是否不会对采矿公司无法满足的采矿社区产生期望，因为在立法体系中没有准确地描述采矿社区。立法系统通过各种立法和政策准则之间的复杂互动来促进“矿山社区发展”。这种互动的中心是“社区”和“矿山社区”的定义。自立法制度颁布以来，对这些定义进行了多次修改，证明了法律难以捕获“社区”。定义的最新版本因其模棱两可而受到批评，导致不确定谁应该从矿山社区发展中受益。本文提出，在发展范式中迎合社区而不是个人时，存在一个概念上的问题，这为准确定义“社区”提出了挑战。没有争论不应该促进社区发展，但是提出了矿山社区发展不成功的可能原因。南非采矿立法制度将与相关国际法律文书同时审议。但是提出了矿山社区开发未成功的可能原因。南非采矿立法制度将与相关国际法律文书同时审议。但是提出了矿山社区开发未成功的可能原因。南非采矿立法制度将与相关国际法律文书同时审议。