Johannesburg/Lusaka – On 12 September 2025, 176 residents of Kalusale, Chambishi, in Zambia’s Copperbelt province, launched a landmark case in the High Court of Zambia against Sino Metals Leach Zambia Limited (Sino Metals) and NFC Africa Mining Limited, with the support of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC). The petition seeks accountability for one of Zambia’s worst environmental disasters, caused by the collapse of multiple tailings dams on 18 February 2025, releasing millions of litres of highly toxic waste into critical waterways.
For seven months, affected communities have been forced to live in a contaminated environment, with little help. While Sino Metals offered limited compensation to a small group of farmers, most victims have not received clean water, proper healthcare, or fair compensation. The petitioners argue that the respondents violated their constitutional rights to life, dignity, property, a healthy environment, and access to justice. The case highlights the urgent need for corporate accountability in Zambia’s mining sector and seeks:
- Immediate access to clean water and medical care.
- Emergency compensation and adequate housing in unpolluted areas.
- A comprehensive, independently monitored environmental remediation plan.
- Fair compensation for the destruction of farmland, livelihoods, and health impacts.
- Long-term mechanisms, including an escrow fund, to restore contaminated land and water.
SALC’s Anneke Meerkotter, Executive Director highlighted that:
“This case is a test for Zambia’s ability to enforce its own environmental laws, protect its citizens, and ensure that foreign-owned mining companies cannot operate with impunity. The people of Kalusale and Chambishi have been living with poisoned water, devastated farmland, and grave health risks. This case is about restoring their dignity and holding powerful companies accountable. It is also about preventing future disasters across the region, where mining profits are too often prioritised over people’s lives and the environment.”
The Chambishi case underlines the human cost of extractive industries and the urgent need for stronger safeguards for communities and natural resources. SALC is working alongside affected communities, lawyers, the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, and civil society to ensure this case delivers justice for the petitioners while driving lasting change in corporate and environmental accountability. This case is not only about justice for the people of Chambishi, but also about setting a precedent that communities have the right to clean water, safe land, and accountability from powerful companies. The outcome will signal whether profits or people come first in Southern Africa’s mining future.
Background and Procedural History
The people of Kalusale, Chambishi, in Zambia’s Copperbelt province, are mostly farmers who have lived on this land for generations. Their families rely on small-scale farming near local waterways—the Chambeshi stream, Mwambashi river, and Kafue river—for drinking water, cooking, irrigation, raising livestock, and fishing. Before 18 February 2025, life was peaceful and self-sufficient: the community grew a variety of crops and drew food and income from nearby forests and rivers.
The companies at the centre of this legal action are Sino Metals Leach Zambia Limited and NFC Africa Mining Limited. Both are private mining companies operating in Chambishi. Sino Metals runs an open-pit mine and a concentrator plant. The tailings storage dams within the area controlled by NFC Africa mining have had a devastating impact on the land and water that the Kalusale community depends on. On 18 February 2025, these dams (TD 15F, TD15E, RD15C, TD15B) operated by Sino Metals collapsed, releasing an estimated 50 to 900 million litres of acidic waste into the Mwambashi and Kafue river systems. What follows is an overview of key developments in the matter:
- 19 to 21 February 2025 – Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) confirms extensive contamination – Zambian Parliament acknowledges the disaster.
- 28 February 2025 – Sino Metals issues an apology and pledges action but fails to provide an Environmental Impact Assessment and restore the affected community’s livelihoods.
- March to April 2025 – Ministries and independent researchers confirm unsafe levels of heavy metals; US and Finnish embassies issue evacuation advisories.
- July 2025 – Limited compensation scheme launched, excluding most affected households and requiring unlawful waivers of rights.
- 12 September 2025 – 176 petitioners represented by Messrs. Malambo & Co. and Lusitu Chambers, file their case in the High Court of Zambia (2025/HP/1285) with support from SALC.
This case further reflects the regional and systemic issues that plague mining communities across Southern Africa:
- Corporate accountability: Multinational companies, often shielded by foreign investment agreements and special economic zones, frequently evade environmental oversight.
- Weak environmental governance: State institutions, including environmental regulators, have been undermined and under-resourced, leaving communities vulnerable.
- Water insecurity and climate change: The collapse of tailings dams threatens already-scarce water resources, worsening the climate crisis in a region reliant on rivers like the Kafue.
- Community rights: Rural communities remain the best stewards of land and water resources but are also the most exposed to displacement, pollution, and rights violations.
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