Tunatazama - Community Monitors

Mining footprint never easy to deal with by GUBICO Waste Survillane Team

This is one of the mines in Welkom that was owned by Anglo Gold but operations where stopped more than twenty years ago said Gubico Waste Surveillance Team. This leaves communities with unanswered questions that do mines really have community interest at heart when they operate like Spaza Shops that can be closed at any time.

The community believe mines are quick into opening shafts and doing prospecting with clear interest of making profits but immediately after extracting profits they don’t care who is affected as they don’t return the land to its original form. This in turn leaves the same community members and the government with a responsibility of cleaning the mess that was caused by these mining houses. Let alone that all tax payers will have to feed the bill if the company is not compelled to clean up!

The pictures depict the demolished building, with dumping’s, tailing dams and unclosed plants that are a danger to our society. This leaves us with a statement to say that mining houses are not environmental friendly a statement that Gubico has been preaching since our inception.

That is why we find ourselves living in communities with such precious gems worth billion on top of billion and yet our community are suffering high level of unemployment, under development, lack of infrastructure, poor health care facilities , no jobs and let alone strategic skills supporting programmes.

The only thing that we have to hold on to as a proof that mining houses existed is the chemicals and mine dumps that affect our health as this mines are close to the area of residences.

Gubico will not relentless, we shall overcome just like a tree standing by the water.

Compiled by our Waste Surveillance Team

Author

GUBICO is a community based organisation in Free State Province receiving sharing and learning training via Monitoring School from the Bench Marks Foundation Monitoring Project.