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Mining affected communities adopted People’s Mining Charter

27th June 2016

  

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Today, on the anniversary of the adoption of the South African Freedom Charter, representatives of mining affected communities from  seven provinces of South Africa; Mining Affected Communities Untied in Action; Women Affected by Mining United in Action and ActionAid South Africa gathered in Johannesburg to sign and adopt the first ever People’s Mining Charter.
 
The Charter states: “We the mining communities here gathered affirm our support for the PMC and as such we affirm our right to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all our fundamental human freedoms and rights can be fully realized.”
 
Before signing the PMC, Zwelinzima Vavi— former COSATU Leader said, “Mining companies have adopted the tactics of divide and rule, by doing deal with traditional leaders over the heads of local communities. A better life for all is being replaced by rampant individualism. That is why I fully agree with your concerns about mining in our country. Our communities continue to suffer from endemic unemployment and poverty. Well done comrades for taking a stand!”
 
Joseph Mutunjwa— Head of AMCU also signed the Charter and saying it is important that mining companies are accountable to the communities they operate in, because it is the communities that are most affected by these operations and yet they reap few benefits.
 
ActionAid SA’s Mining and Extractives Officer Caroline Ntaopane said the PMC is especially important for women affected by mining. “It is the women working for mines and the women in these communities that bear the brunt of the human rights violations perpetrated by mining companies. WAMUA has been at the forefront of the Charter drafting and fighting for the rights of people in their communities.”
 
The Charter will serve as a political programme around which mining affected communities will mobilise and engage mining companies and the state. It calls on the public to join them in demanding that there should be nothing about mining affected communities without their consent and involvement.
 
Christopher Rutledge— AASA’s Mining and Extractives Coordinator says, “The state and mining companies must be held to account and the People’s Mining Charter displays the power and resilience of mining affected communities and sends a clear message that they won’t be silenced by capital and by any complicit state apparatus.”
 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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