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Crime syndicates stop at nothing to rob Richards Bay Minerals

Executives at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) and its parent, multinational Rio Tinto, described last week the extraordinary measures RBM has had to put in place as it battles ruthless criminals who plunder its commodities with near-impunity. At stake is a share of annual revenue of about R18.2bn generated by extraction of titanium slag, zircon, rutile and high-purity iron.

If the company should be forced to close, the fallout would devastate the northern KwaZulu-Natal regional economy, but RBM says the government has been of little help. A police task force established to tackle the problems is hopelessly understaffed and underfunded. The company has hired two additional private investigators. According to Rio Tinto’s Werner Duvenhage, senior executives travel under armed guard in armour-plated cars after the roadside murder in May 2021 of general manager of operations Nico Swart while he was driving to work. That hit followed the murder of Ronnie Nzimande, general manager for human resources, who was shot in his driveway as he arrived home from work.

Another nine people have been killed, almost certainly because they stood in the way of those who were creaming off substantial amounts from RMB’s operations. A source close to the police investigation noted: “Anybody who stands in the way of one of the syndicates is a target.” Apparently, the task team has identified a man “in his 30s” with local business interests in connection with some of the murders. Duvenhage said the company had no intention of giving up on SA, but the battle was taking a toll on staff.

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Source: SA Labour News