UN bodies get nod to participate in action against Anglo

SEVERAL UN bodies obtained permission from the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Friday to be admitted as a friend of the court in a class action lawsuit against Anglo American South Africa over alleged health problems caused by lead mines in central Zambia.

The court ruled that four international organisations – including the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxins and Human Rights and the UN body concerned with the rights of people with disabilities – may participate in the main application to assist the court.

The legal challenge, filed in South Africa, alleges that mining operations carried out in Kabwe, north of the Zambian capital Lusaka, by multinational mining company Anglo-American, were in such close proximity to residents that they caused significant soil contamination and poisoned the population, especially young children.

They further contend that in villages in and around Kabwe, both children and adults living in the shadow of the old lead mine have experienced heightened health issues due to the high levels of lead in the area’s topsoil and water supplies.

The suit, filed against Anglo-America’s South African subsidiary, represents 180 000 women and children in Kabwe with 13 plaintiffs representing the case.

The applicants allege that Anglo, through its mining activities conducted at the mine in Kabwe during the period 1925 to 1974, both caused and materially contributed to the ongoing harm suffered by the children and women of child-bearing age in Kabwe as a result of their exposure to lead pollution.

Anglo avers that it did not cause the present state of uncontrolled and polluted conditions in Kabwe and that it is not liable for any harm caused to the applicants by the current state, nor is it liable to remedy it.

It alleges, among others, that Zambian Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) caused the failed state of the mine and concomitant eco-contamination in Kabwe and that ZCCM remains liable today for the rehabilitation and remediation of lead emissions in Kabwe.

Human Rights Watch, one of the bodies who applied for leave to intervene as a friend of the court, saw their application rejected on Friday.

Judge Avrille Maier-Trawley said she could not find that this body could contribute to the main proceedings.