Written by Ed Stoddard | From Reuters

South African platinum miner Vincent Nyeleka has just moved up in the world, leaving behind a cramped hovel that he rented for a new, three-bedroom house he can call his own.

“This is better. Now my wife and children can come live with me,” said Nyeleka, a 32-year-old winch operator, as he walked through his new neighbourhood, its streets lined with brick houses and green lawns.

Nyeleka’s path to a middle class existence has been paved by a 2.8 billion rand (£157.8 million) housing project put together by his employer, platinum producer Royal Bafokeng Platinum, and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

Mining companies in South Africa have various social policies they are required to implement but this is the first that strives to give miners a shot at owning middle-class homes that for most would otherwise be beyond their wildest dreams.

RBPlat, a mid-sized player in the industry, is a rare black-owned mining company that grew from the investment business of the Bafokeng people who live around the world’s richest deposits of platinum in the North West province of South Africa.

One of the project’s goals is to check the shanty towns which have mushroomed on the platinum belt west of Johannesburg.

It replaces what is known as the “living out allowance” – given directly to workers in their pay – with a “home owners’ contribution” that goes toward a house loan instead of being included in the employee’s salary.

The living out allowance has become increasingly popular in the post-apartheid era as workers choose to take the cash rather than stay in the basic housing provided on mine premises.

Read more at Reuters