nation of united nations classify the trans atlantic slave trade as one of the greatest human rights abuses in the history of humanity. this is the biggest act of deportation of people ever seen by mankind. the in the some of the largest mining companies in africa, the ac bulletin, anglo american extra, and barrick. these american australian and european own companies. so they pockets to the tune of an estimate for the $335000000.00 us dollars each year. they exploits africa and africans who largely untouched mineral resources. hello and welcome to this week's african now. so i'm paul is clear and in this week's episode,

weeks to the effects of western companies. who in the greed to make a big back in africa and leave behind more than just mining company for decades. foreign companies have got oil, gas, gold, precious, monroe's and various other resources from africa that have left them with big profit, little benefits to the local. what's more, they've left behind, environmental health and social problems that crippled generations to come. i'm in the band and mine done in the city of johannesburg, which is home to thousands of people. they live under a cloud of radio active dust. the result of an australian company, mental became long operations. me a di. although the mine is now closed for years environmental, it had sounded the alarm resident know too well, these health hazards they face. mother is date course on this page. he dag,

who doesn't and save it to us, diagnosed with t b r. so then they told me that that does this and say hey lance. then she passed away. i have 4 children and i take them to the cleaning every time for the usual immunizations. but that falls do not come off. i have to take them to the medication. for today they came in and to the doctor to see what is wrong with them. and no result. they had to tell me what is extra run with major when the people of to yourself have been here since 1995. ah, to do something for my settlement is as old as democracy in our country. and he says, all this is safe remembrance commission. it is very, very unfortunate that i've done 25 years of democracy in our country. the people

are still living in this opinion. condition it pct jay. it's is dangerous to as to because of we in hailey then that lead to less that it is gonna is gonna head back 6 when that was it's burning is stuff on the stomach and it raises to the throat burns. and then sometimes the full good, very dry and sometimes like something pinching inside the throat. major when have the symptoms they, they, they usually have they get though i thought about their mouth like pimples swayed pimples under them and they are little what a look. and then they, they, their skin get fresh. it sometimes it becomes like, well, the skin color changes. am a traditional doped, i assume maybe sometimes it is because of their chicken sandwich,

lee. oh maybe. yes, but marcus, not li. then i give them their medicine. they kick knees, i give them maybe fin referred to drink in clean versus them, but i realize that it doesn't stop it the pay stubs for that time, but they can choose to come again. we just didn't have that. so every now and, and every now and then is this way that, that thing is coming like total to close our our lawn sometimes we can pierce quickly. the standard of living is very poor and we are living on public mining painting. we try to engage, we have different, you know, municipality apartments as far as the consent and there was no lots. there was no us in our proposals that we made in regards to relocation. i'm not sure that mindy

she done enough because she promised to be doing the about houses. but i don't know was going to happen for those houses when we quote rousing. they say they don't know us us. we don't stay here even we stay here. the people are coming from not up places. they come in just a year and get houses. that is a what we'll call. we'll go and wait for them. they will call us still waiting until now. and i move. yeah. just find some few people. yeah. just a few people there from there, they took no good for people to be a you related to something like you rhenium and even yeah. i think that area, it's dangerous, but i didn't get the idea where i can go because that is do any good me for this you there and i don't people you can buy. so we,

we do for people to train to how to get to ration, how can do for this place. we try to engage with people and you always like m p always for donation, for sustainable environment. we engage with northwest 50 t with regard to this problem that we have to come to kentucky edition studies. and they are whereby they gave us a recommendation that according to the levels of flood and the volume while you're running there is no one is allowed to live in this place goes yes, i believe. yeah, i don't know what when i hit my head, i don't know. it's is echoed across africa. so how exactly do the mining company get away with it? my reach me for a ring from the foundation for safe environment. shades hurtful shots, africa. f because isa hunger for economic development. and obviously they are also,

and mining companies or investors or shade. i'll give that with exploring the sound good for economy. and in south africa, we has excellent legislation. however, we have exceptionally poor enforcement of non compliance with our gauges, lation in the age of africa, saturated namibia, ordering and motor down year or in d r c. they may not be such a nice today to selection and of course also the poor inforcement. so that result is also in the exploitation of mining companies because that with the resulting in the extent guy station of negative impact wing ivy, 1st to the externalization of negative impacts, what often would happen is that the, you line him or as a may thought would be expected as back been often mine could osha or

decommissioning of mine when my nice looking gazing maintenance often dos impacts, which would last for in this case, if you got in and for 2 logical ages, norcross, biological ages, those impacts will be externalized to the communities to future generations to a mute environment and often to also financially beleaguered municipalities in south africa. they are approximately 380 active minor. the 80 s ways they are 400000 living which are afflicted by the you guys, him. we would anticipate that they would be a high risk for the 3 students because they often have high i, b and i think he could put on a dispute malnutrition, substance abuse, so that all we have in the community to be vulnerable. the challenge here is that

the national nuclear act that interprets its mandate very novelty. it's only a few like mine sat it just not that a few like the i do active mind the races due to the bosses. and jackie, the challenge, as i explained, we have 380 and i do active mind that a cities is currently in the office area that is now in hacking south africa. if this is the issue that we must 50 is that they should be sufficient. the abilene station funds for mining companies, not only the current in facts, but also to agree to order to deal with that tax, including the something and treatment of extraneous or against it was this at the moment. if you didn't say by government at home, some of the mining company some more responsible mining companies to increase

closure. i do all that i do active or you know, if that is why they are really feel inviting me to north africa in south africa. we has of course a value of it automates a lot of the automated doors all out put enforcement. i think africa, he's not the last, and i think some of the unscrupulous mon, you can explore that as full as he's experienced. we find in communities we, we work that the, the animosity at growing and anger, again, some of the money companies, especially since money companies that moved on, leaving gaping hosting to get out the use of this. and i'm in each and disruptive community. it takes 100. yeah. for soil to rebuild itself by just a half a centimeter. add to that the fact that the world is currently using soil at

a rate of 15 to a 100 times quicker than it can rebuild itself. most of the mines in africa after they've been abandoned and codes dom become waste. just like this one behind me. they say that a nation that can rebuild it will can rebuild itself, but the prospects for african countries remain bleach. peter major is a different mining engineer, an analyst who is highly regarded in the mining and financial services industry. i sat down with him to get an understanding of how africa as a continent has been affected by these companies. people thank you very much for joining us. here on african now, what are the negative effects of foreign mines for marketing can be good or bad? we know we need money. mining is a capital intensive business, and the more money you spend, the better it should be for the country because you're building infrastructure,

you're building treatment plans, value as you're giving people jobs. so we should have a preference for companies with lots of money that are going to do lots of nasty. the big mining company is, are actually the best at that because they does many of them for over a 100100 years. what we're see, you know, in a lot of africa because it's risky because it's unstable. we're not getting very many big whining companies. whereas 50 years ago we got a lot more. so we're getting lots of little mining companies, supposedly mining companies were getting a lot of nickel dime on pause shop once a once a mafioso again, 1st bugs. and those are not the good investors. we need. those are not the mining companies we need. they degrade the place, they corrupt officials, they corrupt rogow people. they leave

a mess and we just have to look at what's happened in san gall and. 5 gonna with with thousands and thousands of literally illegal. 5 chinese wires come in there and the amount of mercury that they're using, you know, mercury was bad. i think, way over a 100 years ago, in most of the west, there should be no mercury coming into africa and yet that's how they're recovering all their goal. and mercury is so deadly, so poisonous and last a long time and it's in the water supply. 5 from the ground, we haven't even mentioned about how the gold mining just devastates the countryside ruins farmland. so yeah, we've got to control all mining companies that come in. they have to abide by standards. they have to be transparent. they have to be approved by proper government agencies. what about the burden of disease in the mining communities? i think you got some pretty good research. your thought on. yes,

thanks. my team has her kim office. you know, we almost thought we had a rather kid. it's spread like wildfire in these communities in the illegal mining camps. women are really abused in multiple ways sexually violently. they're made to work. their conditions are exposed you around us. and yes, diseases. a burke hello service. i want to think jaundra theory of what comes from sue each. it's not just people are exposed to hazardous waste. there are for the hazard of bacteria. they're exposed to social disease. yeah, it runs rapid. you know, when you have water caps there's. 1 no ventilation, there's not enough grainy. there's not enough. 1 sunlight compared to

a proper southern that has all the amenities, and that's what's happening around band and mining camps. communities crop up around there because they use the infrastructure and they populate uncontrollably quite often. and so all the social diseases are, are rapid. there are growing rapidly and it's hard to control what land rehabilitation have you seen going on in africa? the majority of the mine i've seen going on and there is no rehabilitation. and how long does it cost for the last? well just the mercury, you know, sort of deadly the big. 6 mining companies are pretty good at neutralizing cyanide, almost within days when they put that in a big pile of dam, neutralizing the site as it goes in there,

but illegal whining and substandard winey got neutralizing the side i. it can be very toxic and poisonous for months, maybe even a year or 2 mercury though. it's almost impossible to neutralize, it shouldn't be given with it at all that will last for decades. it's widespread. yeah, the rehabilitation, it's not being done, especially by the smaller, below the radar, co called miners, i want to call mining companies their miners, their pirates mafia miners. i know that the mining companies in south africa, once they close down, has a fund for land rehabilitation. couldn't the same happen for communities for sure. and i think there should be right president. because if we had a person that was thinking like you, this would be one of the high growth best investment destinations on the planet. instead of being upset. if you're exactly right,

that the government sets the standards and government shows the standards and they get paid a lot of the sort of estimate. 5 here they get 1.7 trillion every year to spend a please, maybe have that for 27 years. so without a doubt, the guy with most of the money, the guy with most the power here it's most of the responsibility they come hand in hand. and yes, when government less companies come in, they have to monitor those companies. they have to evaluate those companies and stream them. government isn't just about running for reelection every 5 years and giving out all the contracts and attenders to your friends government us about doing much more. as you pointed out, it's helping helping his communities and it should be the goal between them. it goes in between the mining company and the communities and what. 8 why the company

pays taxes and lease payment, but government has a responsibility if either the appropriate part of that money goes in the community . it doesn't go to their friends and high office who have contracts outside that town outside, that governments have huge responsibility and they're not stepping up to let's move now to me, jazz, where a french mining company started mining the countries you re new reserve in the 1917 . although the mind close to years ago, 20000000 tons of radioactive weight remains in the country. many 800000 people live in the area and they have no choice that you drink and farm contaminated water and land. we asked our correspondent to investigate the story back beneath complicated his camera and to me from his materials. he spoke to us on condition of anonymity. sir,

my local missouri gonna tell you who dunker compared to the current situation. there are several mining companies that will soon set up for the exportation of uranium in the i got this region. yoga is region everywhere. there is uranium and with now the rise of the price of uranium. there is a risk of having factories almost everywhere manella. on the other hand, the state is not careful about the percentage. it requires unit 2 for the global atomic company, which has created a subsidiary called some eda, which involves operating a mind, but its level at the state has 20 percent of capital in the company. has 80 percent young. it is against nature because society has neither the soil nor the countrymen, nor the minerals. it is nothing. and on the other hand, the state of niger already had a potential them puts on, for instance, the people who have been trained at the common industry for 40 to 45 years after

the common are being close to these people could be recovered from the state to raise its capital and little them with our government did not do it. it was badly negotiated with the state in all that have been 10 to 20 percent of all work done with this company that we don't. i love to read that and he read you quoted, we go now to the world's most talk town, according to police and expert, come way, which is 100 kilometers to the north of the dan via capital soccer, was one posed to a quarter of a 1000000 people live in silver, mine is the oldest in the country and dates back to the beginning of the previous century. while we're waiting and 1956 doctors were warning up high rates of lead poisoning, the mind remained open for another 15 years, only closing down in 1989. international lawyers have commenting, filed

a lawsuit against anglo american, on behalf of the truth and of cub way, whose brains and other organs have been poisoned. we spoke with a former minor, this lucy, dick, any amount of dest go and the, the, as the day male did. and now eyes you find that the to contains lead and the lady, the bad to our board, the fishers, and to easy applicable to young ones. the depth, it's their thinking capacity to tell the truth is people hopefully silly thinking they didn't want to inform anybody the out to come up waking the boys and i see places they didn't people where day sometimes of find that somebody

may look to be sick as if easy, suffering from it and hits their hair, both is still medically bouncing. and becoming sick, quasi did you, i see inside and it was in these joints. he the nick, the joints here, the stomach and oh, the movie i bought pats was intact there, wendy. somebody goes to the wasp, do they operate? you find the story delay the da here in these board and the board to what the lady was acting to the body tissues as it is out to many people died. but we're not dordy. why do i? because this boy is john disposal. he's my grandson for this problem of getting affected with started in

2018. that is when it was that when i was doing this problem from that time on, i used to taken to clinic for treatment, which to about 22 to 3 is the number up to the treatment. it stopped from that time to did the if it's that of in the, to the boy in she somewhere along short tempered andy. sometimes the answers roughly. so these are the things that i've noticed from him. i'm reminding you of our mentor mediation project, to though our bank projects that to help with effects of lead conway. so, so far they have committed a point $5000000.00 in their remediation projects. the 1st part of it was to do

with a car. now basically, the conduit will materialize. moving on the morning from the on my to, to exit to wireless using as a default, much more a can be done, but at least so far so good. we can to have genius. we sent him to children delayed as a 6 month period replaced. and she gave me the term treat, bought into sharp focus, the dangers of mimic testing. a chemist london police gave it has more than for a state in niger risk. nope. is which in minerals like gold, we've been a just engage in mining to leave it most in a just to know we have personal protective equipment while working with gold or other mine. and so believe 6 to be applauded. we just take home. some people even brought into the home sick, struck the gold these drugs content will eat,

i want the food was structured. the leaves also be released and spread throughout the house to help the driver go or expose them to high levels of lead jeff felton and said, phil is an outbreak of lead poisoning and at least 7 villages in the states. within 6 months, more than 400 children died in these crisis. the sent shock waves throughout the country and broke into sharp focus, the dangerous of mineral processing. and then last impoverished really area duplication of fuel to both communities where hundreds of people assume affected by lead poisoning on 5th levels of lead without inside most of the hopes. what from the community will also had high levels of lead children who go back to crisis, had dangerous levels of lead in as he can now contented anglo american and other mining companies for clint. but they avoided us

some heartbreaking stories and lingering questions. the most vital of which is how do companies continue to get away without owning up to their responsibilities? well, that brings us to the end of this week shows we hope we help shape. and this one's on a very real problem that is facing many communities across africa. next week we'll be exploring the fascinating world of p, m. c. 5 with a military company will take you behind the scenes and off exactly what is happening in africa. until then from me and the team here in africa was city of gold. good by the ah

ah the way, ah, in convincing much of the rest of the world on the particular point around you, craig and, and russia, the actions in ukraine. i think one of the problems of the west is the rest of the world looks official says, why are you applying one standard in this conflict? and you're ignoring those standards in all the places. i think palestine is very high up there on the list. old examples of where you do not apply the same stand the ah

ah needs to come to the russian state to never unfortunately, no santini, devastation, i'm not getting calls with speedy. when else calls with we will ban in the european union. the kremlin media machine, the state on russia for date, and c, r t spoke neck, given our video agency, roughly all bands on youtube and pinterest with

josh, who's with the, with the clinicians that are both on your door or be on with? no, we do. mama spoke with laura last pursuing the flash for me. yeah. because i would have moved enough. i just wonder, wasn't familiar with those. i was just love to let you know this globally. they're called what,

what sandwich it is work for that. you will do it all good. will suggest me by 4 feet long and 2, something more. that will be less sure. would you do by ah, we did all authorities came. russia may sabotaged the energy infrastructure relations with the west serial rate. it comes to stays off the prominent american journalist. we build a report that also polluted with washington to blow up the new stream. pipeline indian tax, all parties, raid bbc office in new delhi and mom by reportedly over allegations of tax evasion according to our team. so with waiting on to ron signed a series of new bilateral agreements in defiance of u. s. pressure seeking to isolate a wrong china.