ESG

2022 highlights

• 100% employees at Blanket are from Zimbabwe.
• All employees are paid in US dollars.
• All employees undergo training through the Nyanzvi Initiative.
• We invested US$92,211 in employee training and development in 2022. 

Our people are our most important asset and are central to the ongoing success of the business. 

As one of the largest employers in the region in which we operate, Caledonia aims to attract, train and develop a skilled and committed workforce. We have a range of programmes in place to facilitate this. Employment opportunities are often scarce in the local Gwanda area and Blanket employees and their dependents make up 15% of the local community. To ensure that our employees share in the long-term prosperity and sustainability of the business, there is an employee trust that holds a 10% shareholding in Blanket.

Labour relations and responsible employment

Our approach to responsible employment includes the fair and transparent payment of wages, upholding human rights, respecting and considering diversity, providing equal opportunities, preventing discrimination and preferential local employment. All employees have the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining in line with local labour regulations as guided by the Zimbabwe Labour Act.

We maintain a good dialogue with employee leaders that mainly centres around employee welfare, remuneration and general conditions of employment, with amicable resolution. 

The business demonstrates a very low level of employee turnover at Blanket, which partly reflects the lack of alternative employment opportunities in the local area, but we believe is also to be attributable to the favourable employment conditions provided by Caledonia.  

Our employees are rewarded with competitive remuneration with wages above statutory minimums for the mining industry in Zimbabwe. We also go a step further by paying higher wages than agreed in a collective bargaining process between employers and the main union. Moreover, as a result of our VFEX listing, Zimbabwe-based employees can hold Caledonia depositary receipts, representing shares, thereby enabling our local employees to benefit from the Company’s long-term success. We also provide housing for ~75% of our employees and their dependents in the mine village.

Diversity

Caledonia’s hiring practices include consideration of diversity across a number of areas, including gender. Caledonia has various initiatives in place to try to better accommodate women in the workplace and encourage a higher level of female representation. The Company offers a year-long attachment as part of student degree courses, thereby encouraging a new generation of women in our business. A high percentage of these students are female, and they are learning skills in the areas of engineering, metallurgy, geology and finance. 

Training and development

We recognise the importance of training and development to both the ongoing success of the business and the satisfaction and fulfilment of our employees. We strive to create a culture of continuous performance enhancement through training and development, where everyone takes responsibility for the improvement of their own competencies while receiving proper support.

The mine addresses skills shortages in the local communities by providing a bursary programme to sponsor students and employees through selected professional programmes and currently has four employees being sponsored at the Zimbabwe School of Mines studying geology and survey at diploma level. 

The mine also provides school fees assistance and three scholarship bursaries for university education, for the children of its employees. We also offer a structured two-year leadership programme for college graduates at Blanket.