Alexkor Demands Richtersveld Community Negotiations

After winning a five-year legal battle, it looks like the people of the Richtersveld community in South Africa’s North Cape region still have an up hill battle to get what the court has just ruled that they deserve.

Alexkor is telling Richtersveld members to come to the negotiations table to and to strike a deal over the state owned diamond mine or face a new legal battle.

“The second phase [remuneration - eg] can result in a protracted legal battle if the parties adopt a confrontational approach, and a further legal battle of two years is not unlikely, " the company said in a statement.

The combatative approach was backed by financial reason, as the miner went on saying “The present management and board has embarked on a strategy which will ensure that the company remains profitable,” adding that “After making losses for several years, the company has finally been turned around to profitability, and with competent management this turnaround should be sustainable”.

Alexkor does not want to make an outright cash payment to compensate the community for the 75 years diamond mining on their land.

Richtersveld community secretary Floors Strauss said he plans to consult next week with their legal advisers in Cape Town next week to decide on how to proceed following the Constitutional Court ruling, denying that Alexkor had approached the community for a meeting since the court verdict last week.