Anglo Platinum Issues Detailed Rebuttal of ActionAid Claim
Introduction: Here is Anglo Platinum’s Response to ActionAid’s Claims, as posted on Anglo’s website. ~ Marc
ActionAid, an international anti-poverty agency, released a report on 26/3/2008 entitled “Precious Metal The impact of Anglo Platinum on poor communities in Limpopo, South Africa. In it, seriously flawed allegations are made which, in the interests of truth, demand correction
ActionAid’s report is extremely one-sided, contains so many inaccuracies and distortions of the facts that it is necessary to set the record straight and to give our staff, customers, suppliers, shareholders and society the chance to decide whether Anglo Platinum is acting responsibly or not.
How ActionAid selected their research sample, what their research methodology and approach was is unclear, but it appears that only a few interviews were held with select members of the community — those we already know are dissatisfied and who represent a very small proportion of the more than 200,000 people that make up the communities adjacent to our mines.There is no evidence of any attempt to obtain the views of the more than 84% members of the community who have already relocated. The other remaining families are waiting their homes to be completed. The patent biasness displayed in the report including the lack of any effort to even contact the community legal representatives is baffling beyond belief.
Significantly (and without explanation) the report also omits information on Anglo Platinum’s other operations in the Limpopo Province, and particularly the two biggest — Amandelbult and Union mine.
Mining activities anywhere in the world have both positive and negative socio-economic impacts on adjacent communities. Anglo Platinum has many governance processes, management systems and reviews to ensure that the positive impacts are maximized and the negative impacts avoided or minimized. These processes and structures are not secret and published in our 2007 sustainable development report, a full electronic copy of which is available at www.angloplatinum.com.
That we sometimes make mistakes despite these processes does not negate our strong commitment to making a positive difference to the communities in which we operate the great majority of whom support mining and the opportunities it creates. At the same time, we have realized that we cannot please every individual member and faction.
Added to opportunities we create and the tax revenues we generate, we are among the mining industry’s leaders in seeking to improve the developmental impacts of our operations. We have done this through initiatives like pre-employment training to enable people to seek jobs, local enterprise development, sustainable livelihoods initiatives and local procurement drives. This is in addition to our normal social investment and infrastructure development.
Our efforts are recognized by awards such as the Nedbank Green Mining Award, the Mail and Guardian Investing in the Future Awards and the Govan Mbeki Housing Award for our low and middle income housing projects.There is not even a fleeting reference in the report of the endorsements of the relocation process by reputable institutions like the SACC, NCOP, the premiers office and various government departments.
A detailed response to ActionAid’s allegations that we are breaching the communities’ human rights by preventing access to land and water is included in the main body of this report.
