{"id":97396,"date":"2026-04-17T15:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:19:22","slug":"rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia","title":{"rendered":"Rights Group Seeks AU Action on Toxic Mining in Zambia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Rights groups on Thursday called on the African Union to pressure the Zambian government to take responsibility for hazardous mining practices in the lead-contaminated town of Kabwe.<\/p>\n<p>Kabwe, around 150 kilometres (95 miles) north of the capital Lusaka, is one of the world&#8217;s most polluted places from decades of lead and zinc mining.<\/p>\n<p>More than 30 years after the Kabwe mine&#8217;s closure in 1994, residents, including children, are still exposed to extreme levels of toxic lead, found in the soil and dust around homes, schools and roads.<\/p>\n<p>The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), alongside Zambian non-governmental organisations and affected families, filed a complaint with the African Union (AU), according to a statement by Human Rights Watch (HRW).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The consequences of the Zambian government&#8217;s inadequate enforcement of mining and environmental regulations have been borne by children, the most vulnerable population,&#8221; said Allan Ngari, the Africa advocacy director at HRW.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, HRW said more than 95 percent of children living near the mine had elevated blood lead levels, with about half requiring urgent treatment.<\/p>\n<p>In the application, the rights groups are demanding that the Zambian government facilitate ensure &#8220;lead testing and treatment for all children in Kabwe&#8221;, among other measures.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This request for AU action is an opportunity for the Zambian government to place children&#8217;s rights to health and safety above its economic interest,&#8221; Ngari said.<\/p>\n<p>The request for AU&#8217;s intervention comes amid a class action suit in South Africa against mining giant Anglo American, with a ruling expected this year.<\/p>\n<p>The Kabwe mine was run by Anglo American from 1925 to 1974, in which time experts say two-thirds of the lead in the local environment was likely to have been deposited.<\/p>\n<p>Anglo American has denied responsibility, saying they only &#8220;provided certain technical services to the mine, but at no stage owned or operated the mine&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Africa<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. Rights groups on Thursday called on the African Union to pressure the Zambian government to take responsibility for hazardous mining practices in the lead-contaminated town of Kabwe. Kabwe, around 150 kilometres (95 miles) north of the capital Lusaka, is one of the world&#8217;s most polluted places from decades of lead and zinc [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rights Group Seeks AU Action on Toxic Mining in Zambia - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rights groups on Thursday called on the African Union to pressure the Zambian government to take responsibility for haza ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rights Group Seeks AU Action on Toxic Mining in Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rights groups on Thursday called on the African Union to pressure the Zambian government to take responsibility for haza ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T15:12:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T15:19:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776426528.535283.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rights Group Seeks AU Action on Toxic Mining in Zambia\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T15:12:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T15:19:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia\"},\"wordCount\":329,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776426528.535283.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rights-group-seeks-au-action-on-toxic-mining-in-zambia\",\"name\":\"Rights Group Seeks AU Action on Toxic Mining in Zambia - 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