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Legal battle over platinum-rich Brits to be heard next month

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A potentially groundbreaking legal battle over platinum-rich land in Brits in the North West will be heard next month in the High Court in Pretoria.

The owners of the land, members of the Bapo Ba Mogale community are seeking to reverse a Royalties-For-Shares deal with the world’s third largest platinum producer, Lonmin.

In 2014, the 35 000 strong community traded its entire inheritance to Lonmin on what it now claims terms that were never fully disclosed to them.

The lawyer representing the community, Mosima Kekana says: “The Baapo Community has approached us, the Legal Resources Centre, to represent them in the matter against Lonmin where they will be reviewing their contract particularly the one that took place in November 2014.”

Lonmin spokesperson, Wendy Tlou says they know about the pending high court date but she refutes the allegations.

“We are aware that there is a faction with the community that is challenging this transaction. The terms of the deal were disclosed by our community representative at the time to the community. Furthermore, we announced the details of the transactions in 2014.”

“There was no way that a deal of that magnitude would not have attracted public scrutiny,” adds Tlou.

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