Oct. 6--LIMPOPO, South Africa -- The villages near the town of Mokopane, located in the Limpopo province in the northernmost tip of South Africa, contain abundant wealth, but many of their residents reside in homes without foundations and have no access to water.

The sleepy settlements in Limpopo live in the shadow of one of South Africa's most successful enterprises -- platinum mining.

About 90 per cent of the world's platinum reserves are in southern Africa.

Anglo Platinum, the world's largest platinum producer, made a record $1.75bn in profits last year alone, primarily selling the metal to car firms making catalytic converters.

The South African government directly benefits via nearly $2bn in taxes it receives from Anglo Platinum.

Yet, their search for the valuable resource has caused about 20,000 South Africans to be displaced. For those who have remained in their homes it has caused enduring harm and bitterness.

Rose Dlabela of Ga Pila village says she has seen her community wither down to a few worn-down homes as many of the residents have left due to deteriorating living conditions.

"We are not going anywhere. We are prepared to die. What they have done to us ... there is no going back," she said.

'Forced removal'

Since 2000, much of Ga Pila has been reduced to rubble, its schools and churches are in ruins and services have been removed.

"We use candles and have to cook with fire. We have gone back 100 years," she said.

Dlabela says the destruction of her village is part of a process of attempted forced removal by Anglo Platinum after she refused to move.

The company, which is majority owned by Anglo American, the British mining giant, had offered her a new home in a purpose-built complex and a 5000 Rand ($608) payment when they came to take her land which is close to the site of their Potgietersrus Platinums Limited (PPL) mine.

"People from the mining company came and said that they would make our lives better -- provide jobs for our kids and improve the quality of our land.

"But we never got anything. Instead they took the little that we had."

Dlabela says that the new house Anglo Platinum offered her was smaller then her current one and had no plaster on the walls or any foundations.

So Dlabela decided to stay in the home she and her family had lived in for generations.

Implications

Many did move -- before 2000 there were about 100 households in Ga Pila but now there are just 28. As residents left the mining firm demolished their old homes.

Those that remained, however, would soon face growing challenges.

In 2001, Dlabela says that her electricity and water supplies were cut off. Stones and waste from the mines were dumped around the village.

She says that in 2005 the villagers began to plough their fields only for dozens of police vans to arrive and stop them.

The next day court edicts were delivered saying that the villagers were not allowed to farm the land.

Anglo Platinum has taken some of the residents to court for 'trespassing' on the land. They are still waiting for a verdict after their third and last hearing in 2004.