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All the hard work done by the HDA’s planners and land team has paid off, with Lonmin donating 50 hectares of land to the Rustenburg Municipality for human settlement development.
It has been over a year since the tragedy that resulted in the death of 34 miners in Marikana near Rustenburg. The area around where the tragedy happened is characterised by squalid informal settlements and inadequate basic services provision. Rustenburg is one of the recognised rapidly growing towns in the country.
The North West province approached us to assist with land assembly in and around the greater Marikana precinct to address the human settlements pressure in the area. The process on the one part entails facilitating the release of Lonmin-owned land for human settlement development purposes. The Agency has assessed all identified Lonmin properties for possible donation and engaged Lonmin with a view to agreeing on the donation, including terms and conditions thereof. Over 300 hectares have for this purpose been identified and assessed for human settlement.
The process on the other part also entails the acquisition of privately-owned land, and to date we have facilitated the acquisition of 207 hectares of privately-owned properties located in Marikana for integrated mixed land use development. This land also supports the Mining Towns initiatives. These properties are located in the area where the Marikana tragedy happened.
On 29 October 2013, our work came to fruition when Minister of Human Settlements Connie September, Rustenburg Mayor Mpho Khunou and Lonmin CEO Ben Magara signed a donation agreement. Lonmin donated 50 hectares of land for human settlement development purposes. The donated land is an approved township and can immediately be developed for various housing typologies and programmes.
Our work in this area to provide accommodation of mine workers in decent shelter is an important part of the effort of a better quality of life for all in this area, and the right step in a very important sector of our economy.
