Dr Rademeyer: Govt must step up game to prevent repeat of Jagersfontein disaster
An environmental specialist in mine waste management says the government needs to step up its game to prevent a repeat of the Jagersfontein disaster.
Dr Brian Rademeyer’s comments come after a mine dam burst, leaving at least one person dead and hundreds homeless in Jagersfontein in the Free State.
Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo said that the mine was previously found to be non-compliant.
It’s also emerged that a 2020 report by SRK Engineers identified risks involved with the dam.
Speaking to Bongani Bingwa on 702 on Thursday morning, Rademeyer said that we did have laws and policies in place to ensure safety at mines but questioned why they aren’t being implemented.
“What should happen – and what does happen – is that the regulator, in this particular case, the Department of Water and Sanitation as well as the Department of Mineral Resources and the Department of Environmental Affairs, need to take those particular topics seriously … we’ve got a legacy of mining more than 100 years. We know how to manage these. So the question is, why it would appear is the regulator not implementing it?
Rademeyer said that if these departments did not treat this as a wake-up call, the country risked a repeat of Jagersfontein.
“If the department, and the various departments, if they do not act on this and take it seriously it is very likely it will reoccur,” Rademeyer said.
-EWN
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