Environmental Impact

Thabo Ishmael Chabedi

Thabo Ishmael Chabedi
Kopanong local municipality
Xhariep district
Free State province

Environmental impact

Mining in Jagersfontein has been in existence for over a century, but the abject poverty that people live with is contrary to the riches that lie abundantly beneath the soil. This sleepy little town in Southern Free State has hit the news headlines for all the wrong reasons. From state capture testimony to illegal diamond trade but what made it more famous is the recent mine tailing disaster that happened in the early hours of 11th September 2022.
The tailing dam disaster has left nothing but destruction and further exacerbated the poverty that has always engulfed the town. The town has come to resemble Germany after World War II (WWII),everything has been destroyed and the legacy of the disaster will forever be thrust in our memories. The houses were destroyed and people lost everything, some lost their lives while one’s remains have not been recovered until today.
Small-scale livestock farmers were also not spared by the disaster as some animals were swept away by mudslides as the torrent of the sludge was destroying almost everything in its path. This has left people with nothing to sustain their livelihoods.

The river which was a water hole for the animals and a source of irrigation for the local farmers also got covered by the sludge from the tailing dam. The prediction is that this may take up to a decade before the situation can go back to normal. It will take more than one rainy season to erode the sludge that has flown into the river. Even to this day, animals continue to die because they drink contaminated water from the streams and the river.
A few months after the disaster we saw an outbreak of lung infections, people are coughing in large numbers because they inhale a bad smell from the tailing as it has now dried. We never had this problem before the disaster.
Recently the deputy president of the country visited us and made all sorts of unrealistic promises, one of his promises was that pledged fifteen billion for the rehabilitation of the town. We’re still to see how such a huge amount of money can be pledged for such a small town without any corrupt behavior by the officials.