Anglo Platinum Limited has been exploring ways of enhancing and optimising the benefits that accrue to host communities and extending such benefits to include key labour sending areas. This transaction is intended to provide the beneficiary communities with long-term equity ownership in Anglo Platinum Limited and to give the beneficiary communities the ability to obtain meaningful cashflow benefits over the life of the transaction.  The exact terms and final structure of the transaction will be determined following an extensive community engagement process, with the objective of jointly exploring the development aspirations of the beneficiary communities and reaching a collective agreement.

Cynthia Carroll, Chairman of Anglo Platinum Limited, said:  “Our host communities have long benefitted from the presence of our mines in their areas.  Our operations have provided jobs, procurement and supply chain opportunities, infrastructure development, enterprise development, support of the education and health sectors and many other community development initiatives over many years. We are very excited about the potential of this unique transaction as it is a true reflection of our commitment to partnership and our willingness to extend the benefits to key labour sending areas in pursuit of sustainable community development”.

Neville Nicolau, CEO of Anglo Platinum Limited, said: “Qualifying communities around the Twickenham, Mogalakwena, Rustenburg and Amandelbult operations, as well as our key labour sending areas, will benefit from this groundbreaking initiative. We are delighted and believe that the transaction and the related development dialogue with the beneficiary communities will mark a significant step towards true broad-based empowerment and the ongoing development of the beneficiary communities involved.”

“This next phase of empowerment underlines our ongoing commitment to the beneficiary communities and we believe that it will add the much needed impetus to social upliftment and meaningful economic empowerment. Its significance comes in that it enables us to partner with the beneficiary communities and begin the process of creating sustainable legacies that will outlast the lives of our mines. So far we have been encouraged by exploratory discussions, with certain community leaders that indicate a willingness and desire to address long term development.” added Mr Nicolau.

It is envisaged that Anglo Platinum Limited will facilitate the financing of the transaction.

Anglo Platinum Limited has a long established track record of implementing significant and meaningful empowerment transactions. It has concluded a significant number of BEE ownership transactions with Historically Disadvantaged South African entities where communities in and around selected mines were included as beneficiaries. As with the previous transactions, this transaction will add to the integrated benefits already enjoyed by the Anglo Platinum Limited host communities and is intended to extend such benefits to key labour sending areas.

Furthermore, in 2007, Anglo Platinum Limited empowered its employees, by launching an Employee Share Option Scheme (ESOP). This scheme benefits circa 48,000 employees who had not previously participated in any ESOP.  This means that all of Anglo Platinum Limited’s employees are now (through an ESOP) shareholders of the company.

In 2010, the company contributed R119 million to communities in education, health, infrastructure, enterprise development and skills development. A further R8.2 billion was spent on procurement from Historically Disadvantaged South Africans. In partnership with the Department of Human Settlement, the company will also deliver around 20 000 housing units aimed at creating integrated and sustainable habitats in the Limpopo and North West Provinces in the next 7 - 10 years.

Anglo Platinum Limited’s Empowerment Transactions*