Anglo American Plc is a London-based global mining giant. It has a yearly revenue of over $28bn. But it also has a dark past, one which it wishes the world would forget.
Anglo American’s South African subsidiary (wholly owned by Anglo American Plc) were the largest gold miners in South Africa throughout the 20th century. They made millions in profits from gold mining throughout the Apartheid era. However, while Apartheid may be gone from South Africa the legacy of the way Anglo treated its gold miners in South Africa remains.
Today thousands of people who worked in its gold mines are crippled by silicosis, an incurable occupational lung disease. Silicosis is caused by prolonged or intensive exposure to silica dust. Silicosis sufferers are at particular risk of contracting TB, which is endemic in many of the places that South African gold miners live and work. When combined with TB the consequences of silicosis may be fatal. The real tragedy is that the disease is preventable. The reason so many former Anglo American miners are afflicted by it is that basic preventative steps, such as providing workers with respirators, were not taken.
This is a very clear case of workers being treated horrifically and having their lives destroyed. But Anglo American is a company that boasts on its website that its guiding values are ‘safety, care & respect and integrity’. Surely a company making such bold claims would be looking to do whatever it can to put right such an ugly chapter in its history? Sadly that is not the case.
Anglo American says ‘we do not accept that it is necessary for people to be made ill whilst working for us’. As a result former gold miners suffering from silicosis have launched legal action against Anglo American South Africa in the UK and South Africa. The lawsuits are calling for Anglo American to provide workers affected by silicosis to be given compensation and healthcare.
But Anglo American is not paying up, it is fighting the legal action. The cruelty of this is that, the longer Anglo American fight this action, the more of their former miners will die from a preventable disease without seeing justice done. A test case under way in Johannesburg involving 18 gold miners who have been diagnosed with silicosis has already seen four of those workers die without justice.
Anglo American’s approach is hideously wrong. South Africa’s gold miners deserve justice. That’s why we won’t let Anglo American sweep away its ugly past. On Friday Anglo American Plc will be holding its AGM at the QE2 conference centre in Westminster. Young Labour will be joining them. We’ll be joining Action for Southern Africa outside their AGM to call on Anglo American Plc to give South African gold miners the justice they deserve.
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Action for Southern Africa and Young Labour will be protesting outside Anglo American’s AGM on Friday 19 April. The protest will be between 1pm and 2pm meeting outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, SW1P 3EE. All are welcome to join us.
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Jack Storry is Young Labour’s international officer. He tweets @JackStorry
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The miners in RSA, all races and creeds, were treated better by Cecil J Rhodes and the 1st Oppenheimer Moguls in the circa-late 1800’s than they are by today’s Gold-Digger Execs&Bosses in London. Even Tiny Rowland would turn in his grave to see today’s treatment of mine workers.
And they were hard men.
Pres Zuma is between a ‘Rock’ & a hard Face.
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