Lonmin donates land for housing development

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Pretoria - Lonmin mine has donated 50 hectares of land, consisting of serviced stands, to be used for housing in the greater Marikana area.

The land was donated to the Department of Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison of the North West province and the Rustenburg Local Municipality.

This landmark agreement between the public and private sector heralds the development of new integrated human settlements comprising a range of high- and low-density residential housing, together with all associated municipal services.

These settlements will support the development of a vibrant, sustainable and dignified lifestyle for the people living in the Marikana area. Development of the land is scheduled to commence before 30 June 2014.

Human Settlements Minister Connie September said: “This deal will help address the critical shortage of appropriate and affordable accommodation in the area and fulfil our core constitutional mandate of delivering adequate housing and basic services to communities living within the Greater Rustenburg municipal area.”

Lonmin Chief Executive Ben Magara said: “We believe that this is an important step in the journey of contributing to the well-being of our communities and Lonmin’s employees in particular.

“This donation forms part of our commitment to support the Presidential Initiative to improve living conditions in Rustenburg, and we look forward to working closely with our partners and other stakeholders.”

In addition and outside of this donation, Lonmin will contribute at least R500 million over the next five years towards employee accommodation and community bulk services.

MEC for Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison, Nono Maloyi, welcomed Lonmin’s donation of land.

“This will support the government’s human settlement initiatives, and assist the North West province to address the need for shelter and related services within the Greater Marikana area.” – SAnews.gov.za