Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, says he believes that a 2007 judgement essentially declaring that slime dams do not fall under the jurisdiction of the department is creating a risk for disasters such as the one seen in Jagersfontein to occur.
\nThe disaster \u2013 which left one person dead, at least 200 people homeless and a trail of infrastructure damage in its wake \u2013 occurred when the slime dam from a nearby disused mine burst causing a mudslide.
\nThe affected residents have been temporarily placed at the Sandstone Sleeper Estate in Bloemfontein.
\nFollowing a walk through Jagersfontein, Mantashe described the incident as \u201cmuch bigger than has been estimated\u201d and said he is \u201cvery worried\u201d about the Free State which houses slime dams.
\n\u201cThis was a mining activity. The 2007 judgement\u2026actually deprived this company and this mine to have regular mining inspectors visiting it because [the court] said it\u2019s not a mine, the MPRDA [Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act] has no jurisdiction, the DMRE has no jurisdiction and therefore ring-fenced from it.
\n\u201cMy own interpretation is that, that reflects the lack of understanding of mining as a value chain because you can\u2019t fragment mining. We have raised that with the mineral council and we\u2019re hoping that the Mineral Council will take it up with us and approach the judiciary to change that decision because it\u2019s dangerous.
\n\u201cParticularly for the Free State where there is a big field of old slimes dams in the Free State goldfields. If we continue saying that that is [the Department of] Water Affairs, we are actually building a risk,\u201d Mantashe said.
\nSpeaking to residents during a community meeting on Tuesday, Mantashe reiterated government\u2019s commitment to assisting those who have been affected.
\nHe warned, however, that their lives would not immediately return to normal.
\n\u201cWhat has happened here is a huge disaster [and]\u2026as government, we are going to pull everything together to assist as much as possible. We will work hard to restore your lives. However we also ask for your patience because there a quite a lot of you who have been affected so let\u2019s work together,\u201d he said.
\nMeanwhile, according to the town\u2019s Mayor, Xolani Tseletsele, the mine responsible for the slime dam has offered to commit some R20 million to assisting the community.
\n\u201cWe met with mine management to hear what they would contribute towards rebuilding our community. They made some commitments that we agreed on and we also formulated a committee directly from those affected by the disaster.
\n\u201cThe commitment they made that we didn\u2019t agree with is the R20 million that they said would go towards addressing basic issues such as clothing, food and the like for those affected. What we are waiting for now is for them and government to make an assessment of the homes and infrastructure that has been destroyed. That way, we will be able to determine how much they, as the mine should contribute, towards physically rebuilding our community,\u201d Tseletsele said. <\/p>\n
Source: South African Government News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"