'Anglo American owes communities substantial historical social debt' - MACUA

THE Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has challenged the social movement Mining-Affected Communities in Action (MACUA) to provide the specifics of its grievances over  Anglo American’s merger with Canadian miner Teck Resources to form Anglo Teck.

MACUA had accused Anglo American of leaving South Africa without fulfilling its environmental and social liabilities, adding that the government should enforce compliance and ensure that these liabilities are settled before the company exits the country.

These, according to MACUA, include unfinished Social and Labour Plan (SLP) commitments, and what communities describe as a “substantial historical social debt remains outstanding”.

Anglo American, which was founded in 1917 in South Africa, agreed to merge with Canadian miner Teck Resources to form Anglo Teck in September 2025. This will result in the relocation of the company’s global headquarters to Vancouver, Canada.

MACUA said the failure to act against Anglo American cannot be attributed to a lack of legal framework, adding that this reflects a deeper political condition in which the state has become increasingly reluctant to assert its authority against powerful, mobile capital, even when that capital was built on South Africa’s land, labour, and lives.

However, Anglo American said it is not exiting South Africa, adding that it has communicated repeatedly that the claims put forward by MACUA that the company is exiting South Africa are false, irresponsible, and risk misleading the public.

“The merger with Teck Resources is about building a stronger global critical minerals company that is even better positioned to invest and grow, including in South Africa.  Anglo Teck (the new merged company) will continue Anglo American’s listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as a much larger global company, providing direct investment access for its substantial shareholder base in South Africa. What will change is that our London headquarters will move to Vancouver,” said the company. 

The company added that no South African assets, licences or companies move anywhere as a result of the merger, adding that they remain fully enforceable in the country regardless of where the group's head office is based or what the top listed entity is called.

“This includes the MPRDA, environmental legislation, SLP requirements and all worker-related obligations. The merger does not, and cannot, extinguish those obligations.”

MACUA, which has been accusing Anglo American of engineering a "slow-motion exit" from South Africa, said Anglo’s operations have left behind extensive environmental damage, including land sterilisation, water contamination, and acid mine drainage.

The organisation added that based on publicly available regulatory data and conservative attribution to Anglo’s historic footprint, unfunded environmental and closure liabilities linked to Anglo’s operations amount to at least R40–55 billion.

“This cannot become a case of profits leaving and damage remaining. Any exit must be subject to strict public-interest conditions and full accountability,” said MACUA national coordinator Sabelo Mnguni.

The organisation said Anglo American benefited from a system of racial repression that paid Black mineworkers far below the value of their productivity during the 20th century. 

“Conservative estimates indicate that at least 30% of Anglo’s historic profits were generated through this artificially suppressed wage structure. Over more than a century, this amounts to an estimated US$60 billion in value transferred from Black workers and their families to Anglo American, through racialised surplus extraction,” MACUA said, adding that an exit under these conditions would not be a neutral corporate decision, but would be an act of debt evasion.

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has called on MACUA to report the matter, saying it would welcome specifics on the allegations being referred to it.

“The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), together with other laws such as the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), spell out obligations for mining rights and permit holders. These laws also spell out processes to be followed or invoked to ensure compliance. The Department would welcome specifics on the allegations being referred to, which will enable application and enforcement of prevailing laws,” said the department. 

Cape Times