Pretoria - Commitments Lonmin made in 2006 to address workers' housing needs and its failure to meet them came under scrutiny at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday.
Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson cross-examined former Lonmin chief operating officer Mahomed Ismail Seedat on Lonmin's obligation on this point in terms of an agreement with the department of minerals.
Part of the agreement was that Lonmin would build 5500 houses for its workers in Marikana by 2011. The houses could then be bought, rented or rented with the option of buying.
The existing single-sex hostels would be converted into residential flats for workers who wanted them.
Seedat testified that Lonmin's financial position had significantly deteriorated by 2009, and the plans for how Lonmin would implement its plan needed to be reviewed.
Chaskalson asked him how it was that the company failed to build the houses or make financial provision for the construction when the platinum boom was at its peak.
Chairman Ian Farlam also questioned how, as “prudent housekeepers”, the company had not saved money for the lean “winter” years in the future.
Seedat said he would be speculating, but “based on market analysis and forecasting (mining companies) believed the 'summers' would last for many many more years”.
Chaskalson said that in 2009 it was clear that Lonmin would not deliver on its commitments to build houses for rental or purchase by workers.
“The commitment you made in 2006 was a binding legal obligation. Not something you can... depart from at your leisure.”
He asked whether Lonmin had approached the department to seek a review of the terms of the agreement regarding the timeframe for the building programme.
Seedat said he did not think this had been formally broached with the department but it was “kept continuously informed as we tried to find a solution”.
Chaskalson said that Lonmin had managed to pay out dividends to shareholders in both the good years and the lean years, and questioned whether the company considered its obligation to provide decent accommodation for its workers as a “real obligation or a soft obligation”.
Seedat said the company needed to take some tough decisions in order to keep the company going and preserve jobs from 2008.
“The commitment to try to find a solution has always been there, finding a viable solution... We wracked our brains trying to find a solution.”
Cross-examination of Seedat would continue when the commission resumes on September 29.
The commission is probing the deaths of 44 people at Lonmin's platinum mining operations in Marikana, near Rustenburg, North West.
On August 16, 2012, 34 people, mostly striking miners, were shot dead and 78 people were wounded when police fired on a group gathered at a hill near the mine while trying to disarm and disperse them.
In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the strike-related violence.
Sapa