Sustainable development

Anglo American representatives present the findings of a land ownership survey to the community of La Encanÿada in northern Peru

When developing a plan to build or expand an operation, we aim to avoid resettlement. Where a resettlement has to be conducted, we use international best practice. This involves continuously talking to stakeholders to ensure we fully understand the needs, aspirations and local political dynamics of the affected communities.

Resettlements at Ga-Pila and Motlhotlo

The resettlements undertaken by Anglo Platinum at Ga-Pila and Motlhotlo near its Mogalakwena mine (involving almost 10,000 people from 957 households), formerly known as Potgietersrust, were the subject of significant controversy during 2008, in part owing to allegations of human rights abuses and water pollution by the mine in a report by the NGO, ActionAid.

In response to the allegations, we indicated in our 2008 Report to Society that an independent study by the Institute of Groundwater Studies in South Africa, using isotope testing, disproved the allegation of water pollution and that a report released by the South African Human Rights Commission did not sustain ActionAid’s allegations of human rights abuses by the mine. The report did, however, highlight the vulnerabilities of communities living around large-scale mining operations in rural areas.

In late 2008, Anglo Platinum appointed consultancy firm, ERM, to conduct a review of the resettlement processes undertaken at Ga-Pila and Motlhotlo against current best practice in order to identify key strengths and weaknesses (and associated lessons learnt). The aim was also to lay the foundations for sustainable and informed actions by developing a set of practical recommendations for Anglo Platinum based on the review findings.

Review findings

ERM used the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Performance Standard 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement as the benchmark for this review. It should be noted that this standard was not in place when either resettlement was planned. We considered it to be a suitable reference, however, given our aspiration to comply with the highest international standards.

The findings of the review were based on extensive stakeholder testimony relating to their experience of the resettlement process. This involved interviewing a broad sample of interested and affected stakeholders over a six-month period.

The review component of the research identified a number of strengths and weaknesses in Anglo Platinum’s management of the weaknesses in Anglo Platinum’s management of the resettlement processes at Ga-Pila and Motlhotlo. Based on the evidence available to ERM at the time of the research, the review found that the Ga-Pila resettlement processes had not been broadly aligned with IFC Performance Standard 5.

Some strengths were noted in the more technical and physical aspects of the resettlement, including land acquisition by fair and legal means, a degree of consultation with and participation by affected parties; the provision of adequate replacement of property; land-based compensation and, associated with this, security of tenure; the provision of physical support for the actual move; and the objective of seeking to improve living conditions.

The overall resettlement, however, was undermined by inadequate management of the less tangible and ultimately more complex social and community relations aspects of resettlement. These included the negotiations over land rights and the original decision to move; the ongoing management of expectations; the lack of responsiveness to a changing social environment (such as emerging resistance); the poor management of grievances and the emotional impact of resettlement; and inadequate attention to the restoration of livelihoods.

In the case of Motlhotlo, the review found that significant improvements and learnings from Ga-Pila had been applied to make the process much more closely aligned with the IFC standard.

Key strengths related to improved implementation of household audits and the valuation of assets, grievance procedures for compensation and household defects, the overall quality of the replacement houses and key aspects of service provision.

In spite of these improvements, weaknesses were noted in a number of areas, including inadequate consideration of vulnerable groups; restoration, but not significant improvement, of livelihoods resulting from poor post-resettlement development planning; and a lack of systematic monitoring and evaluation procedures suitable for a resettlement process. Shortcomings were also identified in the representative bodies established to represent affected residents during the resettlement; there was a lack of mechanisms to resolve disputes in an impartial manner; and inadequate consideration of the emotional impacts of resettlement.

On balance, the Motlhotlo resettlement process is considered to be broadly aligned with IFC Performance Standard 5.

Looking forward: major themes for action

The findings, for ongoing attention by Anglo Platinum, were organised into broad themes for improvement and action. These include:

• Trust- and relationship-building
• Stakeholder engagement (strategy and systems)
• Anglo Platinum’s internal organisational capacity to manage community/social issues
• Integrated post-resettlement development planning and livelihoods restoration
• Compensation and other unfinished business

The intention of these themes is to look forward to ways in which relations between Anglo Platinum and its stakeholders can be enhanced and, importantly, to improve community livelihoods and quality of life in the affected settlements.