Open letter about Kabwe lead pollution handed in to Anglo American

London – Today, 31 October 2024, ACTSA joined Barry Mulimba, resident of Kabwe and community facilitator, in handing in an open letter to CEO of Anglo American Duncan Wanblad at the company’s London HQ.

The open letter, signed by a range of civil society organisations and peers (full list below), urged Anglo American to live up to its own promises of remediation where they have contributed to harm. Kabwe is deemed one of the world’s most polluted towns due to decades of lead contamination by mining, which has led to an environmental and public health crisis lasting generations. The open letter calls on American to:

• Take immediate steps to compensate the people of Kabwe for the harm caused to them by Anglo American’s historic legacy;
• Set up and fund a blood lead screening programme to protect future generations; and
• Fund the remediation of land and water contaminated by lead.

The letter hand in follows an event in the House of Lords on Tuesday 29 October in which Barry Mulimba – who travelled from Zambia for the occasion – joined a panel of health, and legal experts to discuss the extent and impacts of lead pollution in Kabwe, as well as where responsibility for cleaning up the environment lies.

The Kabwe mine was part of the Anglo American group for almost 50 years, between 1925 and 1974, during its most productive years. Evidence shows that Anglo American was aware at least from the early 1970s of widespread lead poisoning of local children and the environment– this evidence having been repeatedly reported by Mine doctors and international experts commissioned by Anglo American.

A class action suit has been filed in South Africa against Anglo American South Africa on behalf of around 140,000 women and children in Kabwe who are alleging harm from lead poisoning caused by Anglo American’s historic mining operations (more information on the court case here).