Anger as Anglo gives town the death sentence
Company wants the people of Dingleton to leave so that it can expand its Kumba operations
A GROUP of holdout residents in the small mining town of Dingleton in the Northern Cape will leave their homes with heavy hearts after their resistance to Anglo American’s plan to move them to Kathu, 30km away, came to nought.
The move, which began in 2014 with 71 houses — 17 of them privately owned — is due to be completed this year, according to Anglo.
The mining company said at the time it needed to move the residents to expand the western section of its flagship Sishen mine in a bid to ramp up production to 37 million tonnes over two years. The mine is part of Anglo’s Kumba iron-ore operations.
Residents told Business Times they had been tricked into signing documents agreeing to the move “under false pretences”.
“I have stayed in this house for the past 33 years,” said pensioner Karel Visser. “I spent my pension money, until the last instalment, on it. Now I have to move to another place for Kumba to make wealth underneath my property while I am going to stay in a place where I am going to be worse off. I will not allow that.”
Visser worked as a maintenance examiner for Transnet, whose trains take the ore to Saldanha. He said the house in Kathu he had been promised was smaller than his current home.
The residents said the company was taking advantage of old people who had come to Dingleton to retire and who were largely uneducated.
“My parents stayed in this place with us as children since we were attending school,” said Melvin Lang.
When his father died, his 57-year- old mother, Maria, used his pension to pay off the house. “It’s all my mother has,” he said. “If she is now going to be moved to a place where she will suffer because of high rates, electricity and water bills — that will be a huge problem,” said Melvin.
Maria said she had raised her children for 20 years in the town without any help from the mine. “Now they want to move me so that they can mine,” she said.
“I signed the contract because of all the lies that they said about moving us to better houses and paying us compensation. They have now changed on that and are saying that it is because the company has fallen on hard times.”
From its peak in February 2013, Kumba’s stock has plunged more than 88% on the back of a collapse in Chinese demand for iron ore.
Maria said Kumba had offered her a R15 000 inconvenience payment, a R15 000 allowance for curtains in the new home, compensation calculated at R280 per square metre of her plot and a R260 000 property-tax-and-water subsidy to be paid into a trust fund. The subsidy would be paid at R870 a month for 25 years.
Melvin said property prices were rising in Kathu and the standard of living would rise too. Although the promised houses in Kathu were small, “the properties that Kumba is building in Kathu are good”.
“But that will be hard on people who are earning grants. How do you expect someone who can’t even af- ford bread to enjoy staying in a house that costs well over a million? Most of the people there earn a R1 500 grant. How long will they sustain themselves in an area that is gradually becoming upmarket?” he asked.
Kumba said the value of the houses in Kathu range from R750 000 to R2.5million which meant the value of those owned by community members would increase substantially. The company would provide additional assistance to community members to maintain their standard of living.
“This includes allowances to aid with initial relocation and subsidies that will be paid through a trust,” Kumba said.
Forms of home ownership in Dingleton include freestanding houses, individual sectional title in compound housing, government subsidised RDP houses and municipal houses that have been sold to those living in them.
Some residents have been moved into an area called Siyathemba (We hope), built in partnership with Group Five near Kathu. Those who spoke to Business Times complained about having to pay for electricity and water on a prepaid basis, as opposed to the low-cost municipality- provided services which they used to have.
Business Times has seen the February edition of a newsletter, The Resettlement News, which said occupation of new houses in Kathu would be completed in phases this year. The homes would be occupied by people who had signed exchange agreements, the newsletter said.
“It is important that everyone prepares for their move. All home owners must give Kumba vacant occupation of their houses in Dingleton. Many home owners are supplementing their income by renting out inside rooms or outside garages. Any tenants living in any home must move with the owner, or move to alternative accommodation,” the newsletter said.
It invited people who had refused to engage with the removal team to “reconsider at any time”.
“At the end of November 2016, after everyone has moved, the town of Dingleton will be almost empty,” the newsletter said. “There will be no shops and basic services will be limited. If you have not reached agreement with Kumba for your replacement home, seek advice.”
Kumba said grievances always arose with any matter. “Kumba has attempted to timeously address grievances through an effective and transparent mechanism,” it said. The company would assist the community to pay their levies and rates.
Anglo American’s policy on land acquisition and involuntary resettlement reads in part that “all resettlement exercises must be properly resourced and meet, or exceed, the requirements set out in International Finance Corporation Performance Standard No 5 on land acquisition and involuntary resettlement. Given the power of a company as large as Anglo, all resettlements must be planned as if they are involuntary.”
In 2014, Kumba said it had set aside R4.2-billion to move the group of about 3 000 residents from Dingleton soon after it had received permission to exploit the western part of the Sishen mine.
I am going to stay in a place where I am going to be worse off. I will not allow that There will be no shops and basic services will be limited