Incorporating the Signs of Safety Approach in Social Impact Assessment of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in West Rand, South Africa–some methodological perspectives

In South Africa Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is fairly new and finds provided through the 1998 National Environmental Management Act No. 107 and Constitution of South Africa Bill of Rights. As a new discipline, SIA practitioners need to tailor make, indigenise tools or incorporate other scientific disciplines knowledge for robust SIA toolkit. This article explores the potential of harnessing Signs of Safety approach in Social Impact Assessment. It highlights an attempt to borrow tools from the Global North social work profession and adapt and indigenise to apply in the African context. This article tests the Signs of Safety approach’s (SoS) application in Social Impact Assessment. The article focuses on Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the West Rand District of Gauteng Province in South Africa. SIA implementation gaps in South Africa, has been lack of a rigid framework applicable universally. Participatory and Rapid Rural appraisal methods are widely and vaguely applied research methods in general and in social impact assessment in particular. This article explores Signs of Safety approach within the broader framework of Participatory Rural Appraisal to identify AMD risks and mitigation strategies. The article will further give pathways on how best to apply the Signs of Safety (SoS) model in SIA. This enriches curricula of Social Impact Assessment and Social Ecology or other related applied social science disciplines.

Keywords: Signs of Safety, Acid Mine Drainage, Environment, Socio Economic Development