Community calls for suspension of Lonmin operations

Lonmin plc should have its operations suspended in SA after years of failing to comply with its social and labour commitments, says the community living around its mines.

The Bapo Ba Mogale and the Mining Forum of SA, a civil society group, wrote to President Jacob Zuma and the Department of Mineral Resources to request the suspension, they said on Wednesday.

Lonmin CEO Ben Magara met with the department last week and had been given an “ultimatum” by director-general Thabo Mokoena to return to compliance, the groups said.

Lonmin was found to have breached elements of the social and labour plan, which is required by law, earlier this year, a person familiar with the matter said in September.

Lonmin would probably publish a statement later on Wednesday, said spokeswoman Wendy Tlou. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Lonmin has circumvented compliance wilfully and purposefully, a practice they have mastered for years with intent to secure interests of capital at the expense of the disadvantaged and the poor,” the Bapo Ba Mogale and the mining forum said. “They have a proven track record of presiding and surviving on hopelessness, volatility, death, instability, poverty and violence.”

Lonmin, the world’s thirdlargest platinum miner, has had a fractious relationship with its host community for many years.

High unemployment, the growth of informal settlements, and migration of job seekers from other parts of the country have worsened tension at a time of low platinum prices and rising costs. The company said this week it might cut about 450 jobs, or 1.8% of its workforce.