"I have lost everything, except the clothes I am wearing," cries a resident of Jagersfontein, Free State, following the collapse the mine dam, leading to the flooding of the local community. The people have been placed in a local hall and are left with no choice but to pick up the pieces, not knowing where to start. The tragedy that struck on Sunday left three people dead, 40 others injured and four in hospital fighting for their lives. Reports state that the houses and cars were swept away by muddy waste, leaving hundreds of people displaced.
LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
Resident Charel Bosman says she is luck to have come out alive. She says she is in desperate need of psychological help because she just keeps having flashbacks. "There was water everywhere," she explains. "I couldn't think straight and feared that I was going to lose my mother and children. I remember running in different directions but all I can say at this moment is that we are lucky to be alive." Bosman says even though they have been moved to a place of safety, she doesn't feel safe as, "we are surrounded by water." While some are lucky to be alive, another woman, who did not want to be named, says she misses the comfort of her house and that she was busy with renovations. "We find ourselves cramped up in this centre, with no privacy, and they tell us they are accommodating us until Friday, what's going to happen after that?" she asks.
She says that she's used to waking up in the morning and preparing breakfast for her husband and kids, "not this snack they are being given."
WHAT CAUSED THE COLLAPSE?
Minerals Council South Africa, a mining industry lobbying group, said the cause of the dam collapse was still unknown at this stage. The Jagersfontein assets are not currently owned by any of its members, and it has no information about the ownership structure or the standard of management of the dumps, the group said in a statement.
The owner of the tailings dam, Jagersfontein Developments, on Monday confirmed that one person had died in the disaster and one person was still missing. It said it had made R20-million available for relief operations. "The dam went through independent engineering inspections in July 2022, during which it was found to be safe and volumes were within limits,' the company said. The company claims health inspections were done and the water does not pose a health risk. But in a statement Mariette Lieferink, the chief executive of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, explained what could have caused the collapse. "Our Tailings Storage Facility in South Africa are at the highest risk of failure because they are all upstream,' she said. She said tailings usually take the form of a liquid slurry made of fine metal or mineral particles and water.
"They are created when mined ore is crushed and finely grounded in a milling process to enable the metals and minerals of interest to be extracted.A catastrophic release of a large amount of tailings could lead to long term environmental damage with huge cleanup costs,' she said. She said if the Tailings Storage Facility is poorly designed , it is bound to collapse.
THE MAYOR PREDICTED IT
The Mayor of Jagersfontein Xolani Tseletsele said this tragedy was bound to happen and was expected. "Like I said before when the mining company came, I repeat, all this could have been avoided if they cared for the people. I don't know if they didn't think this through or what they thought would happen starting an operation without a proper plan for their water systems. The damage is done now and our people are homeless," he says.
Tseletsele explains that a majority of the people were taken to Bloemfontein for refuge.
"Bloemfontein was the closest place to move them tall transport and accommodation were organised by the mine. We also have various organizations providing essentials. Even the president said he will make sure that people are taken cared of."
