Does the Ga Mawela case offer evidence of anti-black sentiments in Anglo Platinum?
Published by MAC on 2006-07-12Source: Mines and Communities
"Does the Ga Mawela case offer evidence of anti-black sentiments in Anglo Platinum? "
MEDIA STATEMENT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12th July 2006
Ga Mawela Land Claims Committee THERE has been extensive coverage in the South African media in the past week of the appointment of Advocate Jurg Prinsloo SC by ANC leader Jacob Zuma to bring defamation charges against a number of publications and individuals for impugning his reputation.
The South African media have described Prinsloo as an apartheid bittereinder (stalwart) and anti-black. Prinsloo is former Conservative Party MP, and an opponent of liberal political reforms in South Africa under the former ruling National Party.
In the months prior to the first democratic elections in South Africa, Prinsloo indicated his political preferences by defending the assassins of the late South African Communist Party leader, Chris Hani, who was a close friend of Mvelaphanda owner Tokyo Sexwale. Mvelaphanda is a major black empowerment company in the mining sector in South Africa, and business partner to Anglo Platinum in various ventures.
Anglo Platinum hired Prinsloo in 2003 to fight a land claim brought against one of its mining properties by the Ga Mawela community. The property forms part of the der Brochen mining project which is 100 per cent owned by Anglo Platinum, and is regarded by the company as a strategic holding, on account of its water resources. The der Brochen project is located near Steelpoort, in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.
In June 2004 the community won the first stage of a dispute with Anglo Platinum in the Land Claims Court, Randburg, South Africa, which involved proving the legal validity of its land claim in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994. The land restitution process is part of the national land reform programme aimed at redressing past racial measures to dispossess black communities of their ancestral lands, which formed a key element of the process of subjugation of indigenous communities.
Anglo Platinum is planning to develop a dam which will flood land belonging to the Ga Mawela community. The water from the dam will supply the multi-billion rand der Brochen mine and adjacent Mototolo mine and processing plant. Mototolo is a joint venture with Xstrata and Kagiso Trust Investments.
Anglo Platinum has a joint venture with Tokyo Sexwale's Mvelaphanda Resources on the adjacent Booysendal mining properties.
An even more intriguing fact is that Anglo Platinum took over the brief to Prinsloo from the Transvaal Agricultural Union, which represented the previous land owner before the land was purchased by Rustenburg Platinum Mines, a subsidiary of Anglo Platinum, in 2003. The Transvaal Agricultural Union is known for its vehement opposition to land reform.
On appointing Prinsloo, Rustenburg Platinum Mines reneged on a signed agreement between the community and the company accepting the validity of the land claim; with the community agreeing not to develop residential settlement on the mineralised portions of the property.
"Prinsloo's interrogation of community members in the land claims court was reminiscent of mindset of the architects of apartheid and forced removals," states Tiny Mankge, secretary of the Ga Mawela Land Claims Committee.
"It is surely correct that the views expressed in court represent those of the client - therefore, it could be argued that the deployment of Prinsloo against the community indicates the mindset of senior management in Anglo Platinum, particularly when their business interests are threatened by a black community."
"I wonder if Anglo Platinum will ever apologise to the community for subjecting its leadership to the indignity of interrogation by an advocate of apartheid forced removals - and by implication racist policies? It can never be in the best interests of shareholders to oppose measures to address past racial actions by the apartheid state. The whole episode was highly offensive. The word racism comes to mind - but I gather this is a sensitive word in Anglo Platinum these days," says Mankge.
Mining and Communities has reported extensively on the dispute between communities and the Modikwa Platinum, a joint venture between African Rainbow Minerals and Anglo Platinum. The communities are engaged in a high court battle with the JV partners, and the JV has responded by bringing defamation charges against attorney Richard Spoor for accusing the company of racism, among other allegations.
Does the Ga Mawela case offer evidence of anti-black sentiments in Anglo Platinum?