Harmony Gold Mining Company has launched a community partnership aimed at strengthening safety, justice awareness, and socio-economic resilience across its host communities in the Free State, Gauteng, and North West during Youth Month.

In collaboration with the Safer South Africa Foundation (SSAF), Harmony is rolling out a programme to address pressing social challenges facing mining communities. These communities face challenges such as youth unemployment, crime, substance abuse, school dropouts, and limited access to justice systems that continue to hinder long-term development.

Recognising the urgency of these challenges and the opportunity to intervene early, Harmony has taken a proactive role in funding, enabling, and scaling targeted social programmes that place youth and community wellbeing at the centre.

“At Harmony, we recognise that the sustainability of our business is linked to the wellbeing of the communities in which we operate. This partnership represents a deliberate investment in addressing the root causes of social challenges affecting mining communities,” said Dr Mashego Mashego, executive director of Harmony.

The Safer South Africa Foundation plays a critical role in ensuring effective, on-the-ground delivery of the programme. General Riah Phiyega, chief executive of Safer South Africa Foundation, added: “Our role as an implementation partner is to ensure that these programmes translate into real, lived impact within communities. Through this collaboration with Harmony Gold, we are able to bring structured interventions to people who need them most, particularly young people.”

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