On the record with Hugh Eiser and Brendan Boyle

Abstract

The provincial government of North West has consistently failed to protect the Bapo-ba-Mogale community in dealings with Lonmin Plc over the exploitation of the platinum reserves on the farms they call home. It is alleged that hundreds of millions of rand owed to these rural people may have been misspent or misappropriated, and more that should have been their due has never been paid out. Johannesburg attorney Hugh Eiser has been fighting the Bapo community’s case for more than a decade, tackling government and corporate authorities in a relentless effort to win a fair deal for people who have seen little benefit from the riches under their feet. Brendan Boyle, senior researcher at the Centre for Law and Society at the University of Cape Town, spoke to him about the Bapo story: