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Compensation is no substitute for loss of land - Richard Spoor, Ntuli, Noble & Spoor
In an interview on 702 @ 18:15 on Wednesday, 9 August 2006
[miningmx.com] -- COMPENSATION packages paid by Anglo Platinum to communities moved to make way for mining developments in the North West province of South Africa was no substitute for the harm the removals caused.
Speaking on the World At Six, a week nightly radio programme broadcast on 702, Spoor said Anglo Platinum was offering up to R20,000 (approximately $2,800) to families if they surrendered their land holdings to make way for the expansion of mines such as the PP Rust North mine and other projects.
"They are robbing them of their land and putting them into unsustainable townships. It is no substitute for the enormous losses they suffered. There is heightened crime, family violence and the collapse of social fabric," he said.
Anglo Platinum recently attempted to interdict Spoor preventing him from making further comments about the mining firm it believed to be
defamatory. A team of high level advocates, including the well known legal personality in South Africa, David Unterhalter, have agreed to support Spoor.
Speaking on 702, Spoor said there was little assistance from the government. "There is a deathly silence from the politicians. Land Affairs has been seen to facilitate this loss of land," he said.
The minerals and energy department was also guilty of supporting the mining industry on the basis of the trickle down effect of mining investment, Spoor said.
He added that mining companies also worked to co-opt its opponents. "If somebody stands up they try to offer him shares or a job," said Spoor.
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