On Friday 19 April, in a crucial step towards achieving justice for the children and women who allege lead poisoning caused by a former Anglo American lead mining operation in Kabwe, Zambia, the Johannesburg High Court granted permission to appeal an earlier judgment that dismissed certification of the class action.
In granting permission Justice Leonie Wendell found that an appeal against her earlier judgment had ‘reasonable prospects of success on at least one ground of appeal’ and that there were ‘compelling reasons to grant the appeal, as class action law is still being developed in South Africa’, and that ‘there are current matters of law of public importance which directly implicate constitutional rights’. The Kabwe Claimants will now take their case against Anglo American South Africa (“AASA”) before the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa later this year.
This is a major step forward in the longstanding lead poisoning class action claim against AASA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of London headquartered Anglo American Plc. The December judgment effectively blocked access to justice for the people of Kabwe.
Scope of case
Kabwe was an Anglo American mine from 1925 to 1974. The evidence submitted to the court by the Claimants in support of this claim is clear. From the early 1970s, reports by the Mine doctors showed that several children had died of lead poisoning from the mine, and a high proportion of children in the local communities were suffering from massive blood lead levels.
