Johannesburg - Lonmin has noted the report from Amnesty International . This matter was examined in detail by the Farlam Commission, to which the Company provided its full support.
The challenges of housing not only in South Africa, but globally, especially in regions of accelerated urbanisation and are well documented. In this regard, Lonmin acknowledges that the housing situation, around its and other employers’ operations near Marikana, remains a challenge. Despite that, we made a start in addressing this.
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1) In accordance with our original SLP commitments, all 128 of our hostel blocks have been converted to single or family accommodation at a total cumulative cost of R387 million.
2) We are building apartments in the vicinity that will provide employee accommodation. Phase 1 is complete;
3) The company donated 50ha of land to Government in 2013 for integrated human settlements which also includes Lonmin employees;
4) Planning between Lonmin and government of a further development for family and single accommodation units is under way. This includes opportunities for home ownership for employees that choose to reside in the Marikana area.
The challenges are huge. As such, this is not an undertaking that any mining company can do successfully on its own. Success requires partnership with government, the industry, community leaders, employees and NGOs like Amnesty International. We trust they will be willing to partner us in these efforts.
IOL