Mine tailing dust toxicity faced by local farmers

Motseki Daniel Mkwanazi

The tailing dust is such a problematic factor, not only for the residents of Snake Park but
also for the local farmers who reside a few meters away from the mine tailing dump
On the 12th of November, we had to take a tour of the mine tailing dump and also had to
visit one of the local farmers who is just a few meters away from the mine tailing dump, just
to hear how severely this tailing is affecting their livelihoods, animal farms and also their
vegetation.

It is a very traumatic experience due to unusual dust toxins that blow from the mine dump all
the way to their farms and in the households of Snake Park.
We met a couple aged between 30-36 who owns a local farm in the outskirt of Snake Park,
not far away from the mine tailing dump and yet they explained their concerns about the
issue of tailing dust.

Siphiwe and Buyi are a young couple who own a farm and it’s near the mine tailing dump
hence they talked about various impacts that they face. This is because they lack water
resources, which makes it difficult for them to water their vegetation and they also stated that
their healthcare is in jeopardy due to these toxic dust chemicals.

These are some of the challenges they face according to the young farmers and they really
want to see their farm grow crops that not only contain toxins but sustain getting affected by
the tailing dust and more organic and natural vegetation.

The end goal is to see them as farmers who succeeded in agricultural skills and have more
knowledge about the food systems that should be incorporated by small medium micro
enterprises through initiatives that will help them and learn more about the mining-affected
communities how can they alleviate such a problem.