Fanning the Flames - War on Want

whom community lawyer Richard Spoor accuses of acting as<strong>the</strong> “attack dogs” of <strong>the</strong> company. 142 In November 2006, aconvoy of 23 police, private security and company vehiclesdrove through local villages in a show of force seen bycommunities as an act of intimidation reminiscent of <strong>the</strong>apar<strong>the</strong>id era. 143To make way for Anglo Platinum’s new Twickenham mine,people from various villages were effectively forced off <strong>the</strong>irland and relocated, often with little or no compensation, to a‘new village’ built by <strong>the</strong> company at Magobading.Villagers whopreviously depended on farming for <strong>the</strong>ir livelihoods now haveno farming land and very little access to water and sewerageservices. In January 2007, community protests at <strong>the</strong> mineresulted in police beatings and <strong>the</strong> arrest of 15 people.According to Jubilee South Africa,“This brutality is not anisolated incident but a pattern of abuses.” 144 Communitymembers have continued demonstrating and have maderepeated attempts to discuss <strong>the</strong>ir plight with Anglo Platinum,but <strong>the</strong> latter has consistently refused to engage withrepresentatives of <strong>the</strong> local community. 145 23<strong>War</strong> on Want and Anglo AmericanIn August 2007 <strong>War</strong> on Want published an ‘alternative report’ onAnglo American, <strong>the</strong> latest in a series contrasting <strong>the</strong> ‘corporatesocial responsibility’ rhetoric of individual companies with <strong>the</strong> actualimpact of <strong>the</strong>ir operations on <strong>the</strong> ground. The report was sent toAnglo American prior to publication, and <strong>the</strong> company put out itsown response.We published this response on <strong>War</strong> on Want’swebsite alongside our original report, and subsequently replaced itwith Anglo American’s updated response, which remains on ourwebsite still.ANGLO AMERICAN<strong>War</strong> on Want’s report highlighted serious human rights issuessurrounding Anglo American’s operations, several of which arealso described in <strong>the</strong> current publication. In its response,Anglo American claimed that <strong>War</strong> on Want’s report was“inaccurate or disingenuous”, and attempted to dismiss muchof <strong>the</strong> evidence of human rights abuse suffered by localcommunities living near its operations, although itacknowledged that Anglo American and its associate companies hadmade errors in several of <strong>the</strong> cases described.<strong>War</strong> on Want met with Anglo American and AngloGold Ashanti representatives in October 2007.We were able toconfirm that our original report had been correct in <strong>the</strong> substance of its findings, even though <strong>the</strong> companyrepresentatives continued to cast doubt on some of <strong>the</strong> community testimonies published in <strong>the</strong> report.We werealso able to agree that <strong>the</strong> mining industry faces significant challenges in respect of its operations in conflict situationsor ‘fragile states’. The current publication aims to show just how widespread such challenges are.FANNING THE FLAMES:THE ROLE OF BRITISH MINING COMPANIES IN CONFLICT AND THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS