On
On Friday 19 April, in a crucial step towards achieving justice for the children and women who allege lead poisoning caused by a former
In granting permission Justice
This is a major step forward in the longstanding lead poisoning class action claim against AASA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Kabwe was an
Experts for the Claimants also contend that the stability of lead in the environment was well known by the 1960s and that the risk of lead poisoning to future generations should have been foreseen by
However,
The class action was filed in
The Kabwe Claimants are represented by law firm Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys with
"
BACKGROUND:
- In a 126-page judgment delivered in late December, 2023,
Justice Windell of theJohannesburg High Court ruled that a claim againstAnglo American South Africa (AASA) over widespread lead poisoning across Kabwe,Zambia could not proceed as a class action.?
- The claim is against AASA, the
Johannesburg -based former head office parent company of theAnglo American Group .?
- It is alleged that AASA knew, prior to 1974, of widespread environmental lead contamination and lead poisoning, including deaths of local children, and that it failed to heed expert advice to remediate the area, or relocate the operations, before handing over the mine in 1974 to a Zambian state-owned company, ZCCM which operated the Mine until 1994.
- Based on their expert evidence the Claimants allege that the longevity of lead in the environment was understood by the 1950s and that therefore the risk to future generations should have been foreseen thereafter.
Anglo American argues that ZCCM and Anglo's predecessors at the Mine (from 1916-1925) bear responsibility for the contamination and lead poisoning, and that Anglo has no responsibility. The Claimants disagree, pointing out that Anglo's involvement at the Mine coincided with the highest levels of lead production and Anglo was made aware of the risk to of lead poisoning to the local community as early as 1969. This is substantiated in the evidence of,Dr Clark ,Dr Lawrence , andDr Nicklin , which shows that children around the Mine were already suffering severe lead poisoning and that the soil in local areas was heavily polluted with lead from the Mine.
Anglo American has also stated that it does not bear responsibility for the situation in Kabwe because it was not the owner/operator of the Mine, rather, it was only a minor investor. However, the Claimants contend that this argument is not legally relevant. Zambian law adopts English common law and English law imposes a duty of care where there was actual involvement by the parent company in key functions of the subsidiary relevant to the harm. The degree of shareholding, ownership and/or operation of the Mine is not the issue, legally.
Anglo American claims that it operated the Mine according to the best standards at the time. But in the early 1970s, three of the Mine's own doctors reported the deaths of several local children from lead poisoning and widespread massive poisoning of local children with lead from the Mine. Recommendations in 1971 by international experts to reduce the environmental hazard were not implemented.
- The class action was listed as a contingent liability in
Anglo American 's 2022 financial results and was recently included again in their 2023 results.
- At the certification hearing in
January 2023 , various UN agencies and human rights groups intervened as Amici Curiae, arguing that the class action should be allowed to proceed to ensure that the Kabwe victims were given access to justice. - The interveners included:
Amnesty International ;- UN Special Rapporteurs on toxics and human rights, extreme poverty and human rights; i.e. rights of persons with disabilities; and
- The UN Working Groups on business and human rights and discrimination against women and girls.
- As a helpful reference, in
Flint, Michigan , betweenApril 2014 andOctober 2015 , approximately 99,000 residents were exposed to lead when the drinking water source was switched from theDetroit Water Authority to the Flint Water System. After five years of litigation, the judicially approved settlement was worth$626 million (£467 million) settlement for victims in Flint. - The number of victims and average blood levels found in Kabwe residents far exceed even the highest recorded for Claimants in the
Flint case. Some children in Kabwe have even been recorded as having BLLs as high as 100 ug/dl, which are potentially fatal levels, while levels recorded inFlint's children have ranged from 2.33 µg/dL in 2006 to 1.15 µg/dL in 2016.
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