Residents in villages situated near mining activities are exposed to dangerous hazards that claim their health, damage their homes and threaten their livelihoods.
"When the siren from the mine says wee-wee-wee-wee, I take my children to stay outside for safety," says Charlotte Ngwato, a mother of two who lives in Maatlopeng village, about 35km from Burgersfort in Limpopo. Like the other residents of this small village, she laments the damage their houses suffer because of the nearby opencast
"They were blasting right next to our houses," Ngwato says. "We saw a convoy of cars that came to fetch us to live in tents closer to the graveyard in the village. We asked why they are taking us to the tents, and they said they wanted to blast here and the chemicals that they use are poisonous. That is where the problems started. We told them that since you've done everything without consulting us, do as you please."
Ngwato says the whole area gets covered by a thick layer of dust. "They've never listened to us and they've continued with their operation. You must check first when they're knocking off early, and that's the only time you'd be able to open windows and wash your laundry," she explains.
It recently rained in the area and Ngwato says her neighbour, Lucy Thobejane, called the mine to come and see the black water that was collected from her roof. "We told them that our houses are getting destroyed. My house had broken windows because of the mine's operation," says Ngwato.
Houses cracking
Whiskey Manyaka and Patricia Thobejane live about 470m from the mine. In
The home of Manyaka's neighbour, his sister-in-law Esther Thobejane, also has cracks. "But these people are selfish," says Ngwato. "We call them to see the cracks, they come - and tomorrow they'd be blasting again. All of us have cracks in our houses."
The residents of Maatlopeng say they want Samancor Chrome to relocate them and provide compensation for the damage to their properties. But the company has made several different propositions. "They said they wanted to fix our gravel road with mine waste and give us water," explains Ngwato. "We rejected this proposal. They came with another proposal that they are willing to patch damages and also bring specialists to educate us how to build in future. We asked them, because some of the cracks are in the foundation, how will you patch the foundation?"
A third proposal, which infuriated the residents even more, is for
Such challenges are widespread in communities affected by mining. Moshabi Selowa is a human rights and environmental activist from Malengine Section in Monametsi village, which is situated between two of
Selowa says when the mine's Brakfontein shaft was established in 2005, houses in Monametsi were damaged during the hauling of construction materials from Bokoni's UM2 shaft. Residents managed to compel the mine to relocate 45 households and build houses for them.
"In 2014, when we moved into those houses, we found that the houses were already cracked," he says. Through a lawyer, they managed to force the mine to rebuild the cracked houses, with 25 having been completed and the rest repaired. "What causes the cracks? It is the cheap materials [they use] and another thing is that they used mine waste material which is not suitable for compaction," Selowa explains.
"These mines know that they're destroying community property, but they need to be pushed by lawyers [before doing anything]," says community activist Katlego Malesa, who lives in nearby Ga-Makgopa village.
"Definitely!" agrees Selowa, adding that in documents in his possession the mine admitted that it was aware that the "mine waste is not suitable for compaction".
But
She adds: "It should be noted that in mining terms, waste rock refers to rock that does not contain minerals - it is not a reflection on the quality of the rock or the suitability for building purposes. Rocks from the mine were used in the new foundations as specified by the geotechnical studies and the structural engineers used on the project."
Dangerous hazards
About 40km from Burgersfort lies
"Sometimes when I wake up my eye becomes sore and gets swollen," says Ingrit, whose parents have carried the burden of her medical costs alone.
Marais says the injured were taken to a hospital in Mecklenburg by the mine's ambulance. The police investigated the matter, but the
"Where risks do present themselves, we have very strict protocols in place. Explosives are one such example. Explosives are highly regulated in a mining environment and are subject to regular audits and inspections by the
Miscarriages and drowning children
In Malesa's village of Ga-Makgopa, the residents are affected by three mines: Twickenham and the opencast Sefateng and Chromax chrome mines. Several houses and other buildings have cracks, including a crèche and
In addition, says Malesa, in 2017 an unprecedented number of pregnant women lost their unborn children. "In that year, about 20 pregnant women miscarried their babies," she says, adding that some babies also died within a week of being born.
The community believes it was because of heavy layers of dust coming from blasting operations at Sefateng and Chromax. "Initially we never understood why so many people would encounter such a problem. The dust from the opencast mines which covered the whole area was so thick and heavy," says Malesa. Once the dust had disappeared, the number of miscarriages declined, she adds.
Unlicensed miners have also contributed to the residents' problems. In 2018, Malesa says, they started working in an abandoned and unrehabilitated mining area next to her house. "It took those people about two months to extract the chrome underground and they left large holes." These holes have absorbed water, creating a large pond filled with contaminated water. She says their livestock is lured to the pond and eventually die from drinking the water. More disturbingly, she says, "Children from the village also come to the holes to play in the contaminated water."
Not far from Malesa's village, three children from Phashaskraal village drowned in an abandoned unlicensed mine. The victims were two siblings, eight-year-old Machaba and nine-year-old Itumeleng Ramabala, and their friend, Pabalelo Mokgwetha.
"The parents became suspicious when, at about [
Polluted water
Mining operations also threaten the very existence of people living near them. In Sekutlong village, which comprises about 112 households, the residents have to contend with polluted water from the
"Before the mine came, the water was drinkable and we were able to irrigate our crops. However, around 2010 we began noticing that we'd be having a running stomach and headache. The mine discharges toxic chemicals into the
Mahlakoane says about 90% of the residents in Sekutlong are unemployed and yet they have to buy water for cooking and bathing, which many families can't afford. "I went to Twickenham mine to explain our crisis. They said someone from the mine is coming to do a survey of what is needed. Since that day, no one has come," she explains, adding that she's approached the local office of the
Marais said: "At Sekutlong, we have engaged extensively with the community over a number of years regarding the discharge of excess underground water into the
"It should also be noted that a number of reports, including by the [
James Mohlatlole, a father of six, used to be a belt team supervisor at Hackney shaft. After working for the mine for 10 years, he was retrenched on
But Mohlatlole's vegetable garden is constantly under threat as well. Where it is based, there is a canal from which he and other small-scale farmers draw water for irrigation. However, when it rains too much, he says, the canal becomes clogged by sand and the water stops flowing. "Sometimes we have to stay for the whole month without water and we need to start afresh," says Mohlatlole.
'We've got no right to decide'
Most of the communities complain that mining companies do not consult them. Macua and Wamua mobilised community members across the country who are affected by mining to sign a petition asking that their consent must be obtained before companies are granted mining licences. It garnered 50 000 signatures and was handed over to the director-general of the
Nonhle Mbuthuma, a human rights and environmental activist from Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape, where the community won a decade-long fight to prevent the construction of a titanium mine in the area, addressed the attendees.
"Today we were supposed to be in high court to listen to how the minister of mineral resources and energy [
She added: "We need to see the full mining application to challenge them if they don't fulfil their promises. They're taking our land, damaging our households and destroying our water and everything that we have. The land is ours and we have a right to decide. Money is nothing compared to the land we have."
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