Johannesburg — CONFLICT between mines and communities will come under the spotlight this week when the results of two investigations into alleged human rights abuses in Limpopo are released.

The reports by the South African Human Rights Commission and the premier's office are expected to shed new light on controversies surrounding simmering unrest that poses a threat to the expansion plans of some of the world's largest platinum mines, including those owned by Impala Platinum and Anglo Platinum.

There have been clashes this year between police, mine security and increasingly militant local factions that have threatened land invasions and sabotage of prospecting rigs if their demands for more equity and greater decision-making powers over mines on their land are not met.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC) war veterans association in the province have pledged support for their objectives but not for violence.

"Our position is that mining must benefit the people directly affected," SACP provincial general secretary Soviet Lekganyane said.

The provincial ANC leadership wants mining law to be amended to make local equity a condition for new licences. It is not clear to what extent the national leadership supports this, and whether it will inform the party's position in next year's review of the mining charter.

Provincial secretary Joe Moswanganyi said the issue was raised with the party's national structures but no decision was made.

The reports to be released this week are likely to highlight how the mining legislation and charter do not go far enough to protect the rights of people whose land is being mined, or guarantee local benefits.

The commission launched its investigation after receiving a report from antipoverty lobby group Action Aid this year, alleging that thousands of villagers had lost their land without adequate compensation through suspect relocation agreements. CEO Tseliso Thipayane said the commission would make recommendations to resolve an impasse reached during the resettlement process between "certain communities" and Angloplat.

The miner has branded Action Aid's findings one-sided and reflecting the views of a minority who refuse to move. "There is no evidence of any attempt to obtain the views of the more than 84% of members of the community who have already relocated," the company said in a detailed response.

It also stressed that it contributed billions in taxes to a duly elected democratic government, and helped grow the economy.

The second mining report updates investigations by Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto's office of complaints from several mining communities in the province, including Potgietersrus, according to officials. It will be presented to political parties and mining community representatives in Polokwane today.

Moloto told Business Day the report would reiterate his office's recommendations to the minerals and energy department that mining legislation should be amended to ensure communities get a greater stake in mines on their land.

"We have a responsibility to maintain stability in the province," he said. "Unless the law is changed we will not get any peace."

Moloto has played down some of the controversy surrounding the release of the Polokwane report after an SABC broadcast in February in Sepedi airing the views of dissatisfied community members relocated from their communal land next to Potgietersrus Platinum mine.

The programme quotes an official in Moloto's office raising questions about a master agreement concluded between Angloplat and two section 21 companies purportedly representing the community.

In the programme, the official claims the community's legal representative misled his clients into signing an agreement that would hold them liable for their own relocation costs and bind them to a 75-year lease. The premier's office was slapped with a letter demanding a retraction or face a R10m lawsuit.

"There was a threat of legal action, but we sat down and talked about it and reached an amicable agreement," Moloto said. He declined to provide details. It is understood the official was removed from the investigation.

But the faction of about 80 families resisting resettlement is refusing to let the matter rest.

"These section 21 companies were registered without our knowledge and the terms of the relocation agreements were kept secret from the community," said its representative, Paul Thobane. "The community was not consulted and did not agree to those terms."

Thobane is demanding new elections for structures to represent the community and an audit of how money that the section 21 companies and traditional authorities received on its behalf was spent.

"We are not opposed to relocation, but it must be a fair deal."