‘SARW Opposes Attempts by First Quantum Minerals to Silence it through Court Action’ 17 May 2021

The Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) has lodged a notice of intention to defend a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) brought against the organisation by a Canadian mining company, First Quantum Minerals (FQM) at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg. SARW is an independent, nonprofit organisation that monitors corporate and government’s conduct in the extraction of natural resources in Southern Africa. As part of its work, SARW assesses the extent to which these activities uplift the economic conditions of the SADC region’s communities. Often this work puts SARW at odds with some mining companies who do not take well any constructive criticism made against their operational practices particularly matters relating to the impact of their activities on the environment and on adjacent communities.

Over the past few years in collaboration with Zambian civil society organisations and mining-affected communities, SARW has been monitoring the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of FQM in Solwezi District in the Northwestern Province of Zambia. On February 5, 2019, we published a report titled “Living in a Parallel Universe: FQM versus communities” focusing on the plight of communities around FQM’s Kansanshi mine. The research found FQM’s CSR programme as not transforming the lives of mining communities and lacking commitment towards sustainable inclusive development and social justice. FQM disputed the findings of the report, and eventually the parties mutually agreed that SARW would undertake a second study with FQM committing to avail themselves to our research team.

… As a result of these two reports, FQM decided to file a SLAPP suit against SARW with the sole intention to intimidate and censor the organisation. “SLAPP suits are part of the tactics that big multinationals like FQM use as a strategy and attempt to escape accountability by closing all avenues for other stakeholders to express their views on their activities,” says SARW’s Governance, Research and Advocacy Officer, Mr Edward Lange. For issues that require dialogue to improve the company’s CSR and government capacity to control mining companies, FQM has opted to serve SARW with a SLAPP suit despite the fact that it participated fully in the research. SARW stands by its findings in support of the mining communities in Solwezi. In SARW’s plea – which was filed on 17 May 2021 – SARW invokes the SLAPP defence recently endorsed by the Western Cape High Court in the Reddell matter. SARW’s plea also vigorously defends the report on the merits. “We are proud to represent SARW’s stand against the abuse of South African courts to intimidate civil society in this case, and the precedent we expect it to make defending civil society’s right to hold corporates accountable across the country and continent,” said SARW’s attorney Dasantha Pillay of Richard Spoor Inc, Attorneys.