Afro Voice reports that research on the Marikana massacre has won the University of Cape Town’s (UCT’s) business school an international award.

UCT’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) won first prize in the 2017 European Foundation for Management Development case-writing competition in the African business case category.

The study asks pertinent questions on the role of investors and shareholders in business.

Associate professor Stephanie Giamporcaro from the GSB and Marilize Putter, a GSB alumnus, co-authored the study.

It was written from the point of view of a senior executive from a Scandinavian bank following a visit to Lonmin.

Before the 2012 Marikana massacre, Lonmin was seen as one of the more sustainable and socially responsible companies to invest in.

The study unpacks how investors could have missed the brewing tension at the mine instead of being more involved in monitoring the company’s treatment of employees.

“What makes this case study especially relevant is that it is uniquely African but globally relevant. This tragedy had big implications for many sectors and society in general,” Giamporcaro said.

Putter, the dean of financial planning and insurance at the Milpark Education Business School in Cape Town, said: “Working on the case, I realised how difficult it is for leaders, given the various complexities which exist, to make the correct decisions.”

She said it was especially challenging to present all the views on the topic as there was a lot of information available.

Claire Barnardo, the case-writing centre manager at the GSB, said the Marikana case gives business students an insight into the complexities of the mining sector and the different relationships between labour unions, workers, executives and the corporate world in an emerging market business landscape.

This report by Elfas Torerai appeared on page 17 of Afro Voice of 30 May 2018

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