Thousands of people around the globe suffer from exploitation of their lands by mining companies. The tendency is that the companies promise responsible and sustainable operations and management, but the reality is that after them only ghost towns are left.
Oscar Kakungha – he is a 34 years old man who used to work for Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) in Tsumeb, Namibia. According to his story the problems in the smelter started back around 2008 with the first material (concentrate) coming from the mine in Chelopech, Bulgaria. Initially the material was blended with the local extracted ore from Otjihase mine, Tsumeb west mine, Kombat mine and Tchudi mine. When the Chelopech concentrate was initially introduced the treat was not immediately felt as the material was blended with the local concentrate.
The former owner of the mining complex and the smelter, Weatherly International, closed the mines with the onset of the financial crisis. In 2010 DPM took over the smelter. The problems with the working conditions in the plant became severe. The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) was afraid to voice concerns and Oscar suspects they never reported the issues to the government. In 2012 Oscar was elected as secretary of the local branch of MUN. He insisted on an inspection from the Headquarters of MUN – they came and went back with no follow up. Oscar alerted SWAPO Youth League and the Namibian Union of Workers. The pressure on the government increased and a health check was organised and included 1722 current and former employees of the smelter. DMP strictly prohibits cell phones and cameras on the territory of their operations. Oscar took footage of DMP’s arsenic dump-site and used this to signal to the government the arsenic problem which was piling up in Tsumeb.
The government did not respond to Oscar, instead he was suspended as an employee of the smelter in October 2014 and fired in March 2015.
