Start main page content

Anglo American cheats Seraleng community of housing

- Change.Org

Representatives from Seraleng will present a petition to Anglo on 1 August at 12:00, calling on the company to fulfil its promise to provide proper housing

It has been 12 years since Anglo American undertook to build 1,000 houses for the Seraleng Community near Rustenburg - the community supporting its mining operations. Out of the 1,000 homes promised, only 350 were built, with many of those houses deteriorating into a state of collapse.

“Our community made numerous attempts to try and resolve these issues with Anglo including face-to-face meetings and countless letters, but these attempts were met with inaction from the mining giant, which simply plastered over the symptoms without addressing the cause of the failing houses,” writes Seraleng community member and Change.org petition starter, George Thapedi Mthombeni. 

After a failed attempt at approaching the Constitutional Court, Mthombeni, on behalf of the Seraleng Community, and with the assistance of the community’s legal representatives, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), started a petition against the mining giant on Change.org. The petition, which has over 4,000 signatures, calls out Anglo for failing to release a structural engineering report which likely reveals the substandard construction of these homes by Anglo.

The petition, which will be handed over to Anglo representatives Lindo Khuzwayo and Ngaka Tsagae, at their offices in Rosebank on Monday, 1 August 2022 at 12:00, demands that: i) Anglo delivers on its decades-old commitment to provide adequate housing, ii) releases its structural engineering report, and calls on: 

“Big business – especially those which extract so much from our land and people – [to] not be allowed to violate communities’ rights with impunity. We demand justice and safe, reliable and sustainable housing!”

Comments made by petition signers: “It is a disgrace that Anglo American after mining the land of our country and establishing themselves with incredible wealth build substandard housing for their  employees. Why would you do this? Be honourable and rectify  what you have done and be upstanding citizens of South Africa!!!!”

“This is an absolute disgrace and typical of how things are done - shoddily - these days. These houses should be repaired immediately and the rest of the 1000 houses built - properly.”

“Mining Companies at it again. Bribing their way through Mining Rights. Anglo American should fix this issue asap or face this kind of behaviour being also reported to the International (US and UK) Courts like we did Glencore. AngloAmericanZa is also complicit in their bribing and disregard to human rights in communities they serve. Don't you think we are not watching. If you are an AngloAmericanZA executive reading this, guess what, we are now here monitoring your decades worth of licensing rights abuses.”

网易体育 the petition starter:

George Thapedi Mthombeni is a former Anglo employee and affected Seraleng Community member.

网易体育 Change.org:

Change.org is the world‘s largest platform for social change, with over 450 million users globally, and over 5,6 million users in South Africa. Every day, millions of people use Change.org to start, sign, and support petitions on issues that matter to their lives and communities, creating powerful campaigns that drive real change. Our mission is to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see. Our vision is a world where no one is powerless, and creating change is part of everyday life.

网易体育 CALS:

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) is a public interest law organisation based at the Wits University School of Law. Founded in 1978 by Professor John Dugard, CALS continues to use a combination of research, advocacy and litigation to advance human rights and social justice in South Africa. Read more about our work at /cals/ or follow @CALS_ZA. 

For inquiries, please contact: 

From CALS:

From Change.org South Africa:

Share