The Slovoville mine dump near Roodepoort on the West Rand still has no rehabilitation date, leaving residents who say it endangers their health waiting, as the minerals department keeps talking to the owner instead of setting a deadline.
In a letter dated Oct. 6 to community activist Bongumusa Mbatha, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources confirmed that Simmer Deep Gold Mining, the dump’s owner, failed to comply with a directive issued in March.
The mine also did not submit reports showing it had carried out the required corrective measures. After inspections in June that covered other aspects of the mining right, the department issued a further directive on June 29 under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
What the department has and has not said
It gave no deadline for settling the matter and no date for rehabilitation. Further engagements with the mining right holder are continuing, it said, and no final decision has been reached. It added that stakeholders would be told once one is made and that an amicable solution was in everyone’s interest.
The reply also did not say whether the environmental risks at the dump had been dealt with, and it set out no timetable for further enforcement.
Why the Slovoville mine dump worries residents
The tailings sit between Zwaneville, Slovoville and Tshepisong, with all three communities within about one kilometer. The department’s earlier tests found lead, zinc and arsenic at levels it called “unacceptable and way beyond safety levels.”
The dump dates from before the 2004 mining law and was created by the South Roodepoort Main Reef Mining Company, which was later liquidated. Entrepreneur Omphemetse Wilson Masilo bought the facility and the land in 2008 and owns Simmer Deep Gold Mining, which recovers gold from old dumps.
Simmer Deep holds a 30 year mining right granted in December 2015 to reclaim gold from the tailings. According to a document seen by The Citizen, that right has not been put into effect because the required financial provision has not been paid.
Masilo disputes the residents’ complaints. He says the dump was there before the settlements and that people living near it are occupying land illegally.
Mbatha, who leads Eyesizwe Mining Communities, says residents have raised concerns since 2009 and that the period given to act has already lapsed. He accuses the department of failing to hold the right holder to account. Residents also report breathing problems, though those claims have not been independently verified.
What the rehabilitation order requires
An earlier directive required the owner to appoint an accredited specialist within 60 working days to prepare a rehabilitation plan for approval. The plan must set out methods, likely impacts, ways to limit damage and timeframes. Remedial measures must then start within 30 days of approval.
A recent report on South Africa’s reclamation boom warned that neglected old mines can quickly turn into illegal mining networks.
Residents have waited since 2009. Until the department sets a firm deadline, the Slovoville mine dump will stay a problem with no end date.
