Statement: R2K welcomes the release of the AIDC Report: exposing Lonmin’s profit shifting
On Tuesday, 2 May 2015, the Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) launched a report on Lonmin, the Marikana massacre and the Bermuda connection. The research done by AIDC exposes Lonmin’s attempts to hide profits of at least R400 million per year between 1999 and 2012 in the tax haven of Bermuda. Lonmin has used claims of poverty to avoid paying workers the demanded living wage of R12 500, and to avoid its legal responsibility to build houses for the mineworkers, where thus far, out of the 5500 houses needed, they have built no more than three show houses.
The fact that this information has remained secret for so long points towards the collusion between corporate sector and government departments, and especially the Department of Minerals and Energy, who, in not enforcing legislation against tax evasion, are allowing companies like Lonmin to get away with exploiting workers and concealing essential information. This links to the importance of transparency in the new Companies Act, which has shown a tendency towards secrecy and less accountability. In order for the public to have easy access to the financial statements of any company, all external companies of multi-national enterprises should be registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, to keep companies like Lonmin from shifting profits and avoiding local responsibilities.
The profit grabbing schemes employed by Lonmin shows the interaction between secrecy, power and profit and the relationship between capital and the state in avoiding responsibility for the massacre of the 34 mineworkers. This is a blatant attempt to manage, control and manipulate information by Lonmin to avoid responsibility for not only the massacre, but also the living conditions of the mineworkers employed by Lonmin.
The Marikana Support Committee, the Right2Know Campaign and the South African History Archive have made a PAIA request to the presidency to release the full Farlam Commission Report. We demand that the president release the report as soon as possible to ensure that the victims of the massacre can get justice for the murders of Marikana.
