# Anglo American statement: Kabwe class action certification application dismissed

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/anglo-american-statement-kabwe-class-action-certification-application-dismissed/4121136355
- Published: 2023-12-18T08:07:07+00:00
- Author: Ethan Davis

**[Anglo American plc](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ftse-company/anglo-american/aal.l)**(
[LON:AAL](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/anglo-american/aal.l))
has noted the decision by the High Court of South Africa in relation to the class
action certification application brought against Anglo American South Africa Limited(“
AASA”), its wholly owned subsidiary in South Africa, by law firms Leigh Day and 
Mbuyisa Moleele, on behalf of Zambian claimants in respect of the effects of lead
pollution in the town of Kabwe, Zambia.

The Court has dismissed the claimants’ application for certification of a class 
action and ruled that the applicants must pay Anglo American’s costs incurred in
responding to the application. The Court noted that the applicants’ law firms and
their funders had procured insurance to cover such legal costs, so there would be
no impact on potential claimants. In its judgment, the court recognised the multiple
legal and factual flaws in the claim and deemed that it is not in the interests 
of justice for the class action to proceed.

**Richard Price, Anglo American’s Legal & Corporate Affairs Director, commented:**“
This claim was entirely misconceived from the outset, both legally and factually.
As we have stated throughout, Anglo American has every sympathy for the situation
in Kabwe, but we are not responsible for it. We welcome the clarity and force of
the court’s decision to dismiss this claim as untenable.”

Anglo American is a leading global mining company and our products are the essential
ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Our portfolio of world-class 
competitive operations, with a broad range of future development options, provides
many of the future-enabling metals and minerals for a cleaner, greener, more sustainable
world and that meet the fast growing every day demands of billions of consumers.
With our people at the heart of our business, we use innovative practices and the
latest technologies to discover new resources and to mine, process, move and market
our products to our customers – safely and sustainably.

As a responsible producer of copper, nickel, platinum group metals, diamonds (through
De Beers), and premium quality iron ore and steelmaking coal – with crop nutrients
in development – we are committed to being carbon neutral across our operations 
by 2040. More broadly, our Sustainable Mining Plan commits us to a series of stretching
goals to ensure we work towards a healthy environment, creating thriving communities
and building trust as a corporate leader. We work together with our business partners
and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources
for the benefit of the communities and countries in which we operate, for society
as a whole, and for our shareholders. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve
people’s lives.

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