Corporate social investment has traditionally centred on individual projects. In August 2026, Trialogue and AECI held a webinar to explore how CSI can play a more strategic role in shaping thriving communities and creating sustainable impact that extends well beyond the lifespan of individual initiatives.
The panellists were Nicole Solomon (Group Head DEI & Social Impact, AECI), Theresa Michael (CEO, Afrika Tikkun Bambanani), Siyanda Siko (Head Sustainability Programmes, Sibanye Stillwater) and Sarah-Jane Brink (Centre Manager, Siyabonga Africa). Trialogue director Cathy Duff moderated the webinar.
A shift from charitable grants to investing in sustainability
For Solomon, sustainability means leaving communities in a stronger position than when the company began working in them. To achieve this, AECI has shifted from donations to long-term investment, focusing on integrated community development within a 5-10 kilometre radius of its operations and customer sites, rather than standalone projects. It takes a ‘cradle-to-career’ approach, from early childhood development to building a talent pipeline for the workplace, while also supporting water and food security, environmental sustainability, and economic empowerment.
“Instead of multiple projects and partners across the country, we focus on strategic partners with national reach who can drive our strategy for impact in our communities, with a monitoring and evaluation plan to measure outcomes on a more deliberate basis,” she noted.
A cradle-to-career approach to community development
The partnership between AECI and Afrika Tikkun Bambanani began with ECD centres around AECI’s operations in Marikana, but the goal was always broader: supporting children from ECD through school, tertiary education and ultimately into employment. Afrika Tikkun Bambanani works with community organisations, service providers and residents to deliver infrastructure improvements, feeding schemes, food gardens, transport and training programmes, particularly in underserved rural areas.
The impact extends beyond education. Some ECD centres have grown from 10 children to between 60 and 70, creating jobs for women and helping principals build sustainable enterprises. Working with children, parents, teachers, schools and the Department of Basic Education, the programme aims to build community capacity that endures after funding ends.
Michael said the most effective corporate partners are those willing to invest deeply rather than spread funding thinly across multiple projects. Praising AECI’s “dig deep, not wide” approach, she added that meaningful change comes from sustained investment in people and communities rather than box-ticking exercises.
Rebuilding trust through partnerships
The 2012 Marikana tragedy, in which 44 people died following strike-related unrest, marked a turning point in mining-community relations.
After acquiring Lonmin’s Marikana operations in 2019, Sibanye-Stillwater launched the Marikana Economic Renewal Programme to show how mining companies can move beyond traditional CSI to a stakeholder-led model focused on social transformation. AECI was one of 22 organisations that joined the ‘coalition of the willing’ to reset relationships between mining companies, employees and communities.
Community participation sits at the heart of the programme. Siko said that when Sibanye-Stillwater arrived in Marikana, communities were fragmented. Today, broad stakeholder platforms bring together women’s groups, youth organisations, faith-based organisations and other community voices to help shape a shared vision for the area’s future. Broad-based quarterly engagements are held, and dedicated teams at the mine ensure stakeholders’ needs are addressed more regularly.
Sibanye-Stillwater and AECI partner on two specific initiatives: a circular-economy initiative aimed at addressing illegal dumping and creating economic opportunities through waste recovery and recycling, and an EcoBakery initiative that creates jobs while improving access to affordable baked goods in Marikana. To date, more than R300 million in external funding for green, circular and digital economy initiatives in Marikana and Matjhabeng has been mobilised.
The collaborative approach underpinning the Marikana Economic Renewal Programme is now being replicated around other operations in Gauteng and the Free State.
Level Up’s ‘impact enterprises’
Brink described Siyabonga Africa’s Level Up initiative, co-designed with AECI, as a programme that helps communities establish businesses that address local needs while creating jobs. Launched in 2021 following a successful pilot in KwaZulu-Natal in 2019, the model proved resilient through Covid-19, civil unrest and floods.
She terms these businesses ‘impact enterprises’ as the focus is not only on generating income but also on sharing skills and resources and reinvesting profits into community upliftment activities. Enterprises are established around community needs and include bakeries, food gardens, clothing and textile manufacturing projects, and poultry businesses.
Today, 11 impact enterprises operate in communities where AECI works, collectively employing 170 people in 2025. Brink estimates that these enterprises will reinvest around R1 million into community upliftment this year, supporting more than 1 000 vulnerable community members every quarter. One example is EcoBakery, which used a portion of its profits to upgrade ablution facilities at a nearby school.
Asked what it takes to move a community from dependency to economic participation, Brink pointed to several factors. She said it starts with identifying people who are already making a difference in their communities, but who lack the resources or business support to grow their impact. Businesses are more likely to succeed when they are driven by a purpose beyond profit and a desire to create impact in the community. Sustainable impact requires patience and a long-term approach, with support gradually shifting from hand-holding to community ownership, accountability and responsibility.
Realities on the ground
The panellists agreed that creating lasting impact requires patience, realistic expectations and a long-term perspective.
Brink cautioned against quick fixes, noting that “what works in one community doesn’t necessarily work in another”. Funders also need to recognise that it can take 12 to 18 months simply to identify the right beneficiary and begin building a sustainable enterprise.
Siko noted that community enterprises, buy-back centres and waste-management projects develop at different rates depending on their maturity and support needs. Rather than focusing on quick wins, organisations should track indicators such as business growth, revenue and job creation over time, while ensuring support does not create financial dependency. He added that robust monitoring and evaluation systems, grounded in a clear theory of change, are essential for measuring outcomes beyond programme outputs.
For Michael, impact measurement starts early. Afrika Tikkun Bambanani uses an online platform to track around 75 000 children from as young as six months old, monitoring developmental milestones before assessing literacy, numeracy and school-readiness skills. The data helps identify learning gaps and improve teaching, supporting children from ECD through to matric.
Technology is also changing how organisations measure progress. Solomon highlighted AECI’s live dashboard – developed with Trialogue – which enables results to be tracked and compared over time at community, regional and national level, showing how programmes progress from outputs to outcomes and long-term impact.
What it takes to create lasting community impact
The panellists were asked a final question: What is the single biggest shift organisations need to make to move from funding projects to creating lasting community impact?
Brink said lasting impact begins with a clear theory of change, aligned partners and meaningful stakeholder engagement. Communities should be treated as partners rather than beneficiaries, with their agency and role in driving change recognised and strengthened.
Siko said organisations need to “traverse the journey” with communities, focusing on a small number of shared priorities rather than trying to solve every challenge. “You won’t be able to work on the journey alone,” he added, stressing the importance of collaboration to build trust, diversify local economies and avoid leaving behind “ghost towns”.
For Michael, the biggest shift is moving “from funding interventions to investing in people and capacity”. Rather than providing handouts, organisations should give communities a “hand up”, building the skills, knowledge and leadership needed to thrive independently. “A project has a beginning and an end,” she said, urging funders to “get away from numbers” and focus instead on whether communities will continue to flourish long after funding ends.
Solomon emphasised working together with a collective goal in mind. “Partnership becomes powerful when we move beyond shared intention to shared accountability, combining our strengths to create impact that none of us could have created alone,” she concluded.
