Spring 2007

Psychopathy in the South African mining industry

South Africa’s mining corporations are built on the legacy of companies such as Cecil John Rhodes’ British South Africa Company.

23 January 2009

The company listed on the London Stock Exchange on the back of false geological reports on the mineral resource potential of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). This company plundered Matabeleland in 1893, deposing King Lobengula of the Ndebele tribe so that it could obtain the mineral rights of what was to become Southern Rhodesia. Apart from the thousands of Ndebele who died and the ‘disappearance’ of King Lobengula, the Ndebele also lost their independence, 93,000 head of cattle and all their land. Such is the ancestry of our mining corporations. On the basis of our experience with various mines in the Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga provinces, there is evidence to suggest that this ancestry shows through. In a number of instances, these companies display some of the defined characteristics of psychopathy.

Here are some examples:

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