Mantashe says his department will intervene at Jagersfontein despite court exemption

Minister of mineral resources and energy Gwede Mantashe says his department will do all it can to help the community of Jagersfontein in the Free State, despite a 2007 court ruling that exempts it from having to do so.

This comes after the tailings dam disaster at the weekend in which at least one person was killed, several were injured and cars, houses and livestock were washed away. At least two people remain unaccounted for.

Mantashe held a briefing on Tuesday in the small mining town and conducted a site visit to the disaster-hit area.

“We are running the risk of being in contempt of court. People in this community will remember in December 2007 there was a judgment,” Mantashe said. 

He was referring to a high court ruling involving the Jagersfontein mine’s previous owner, De Beers, and Ataqua Mining. 

BusinessLIVE reported the court found minerals already mined and deposited as waste in tailings dams are the property of the owners of the processing plant. The issue at the time was whether tailings dumps should be considered minerals governed by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, with ownership vesting under the custodianship of the state.

Mantashe said the judgment indicated slime dams were not part of his department but the responsibility of the water affairs department. Despite this, his department would not turn its back on the affected community, he said.

He held a closed meeting with the company managing the dam and was expected to brief journalists after the meeting.

Mantashe said his department could offer technical support.

“It is an area we understand. It is an area within our responsibility. We will be working with water affairs and everybody else, but we will not move out of here when there is a disaster,” he said.

“Our view is that this disaster is forcing us to revisit that judgment because we see it as judicial overreach. What they did with that judgment was to split the mine into the mining area, the dam and the slime dams, and from where we are seated that is complex.

“We should be directly involved. We don’t want to take over a responsibility that is not ours but we think it is a mistake to separate them.”

Mantashe said it seemed everything was polluted in the area, but an official who spoke for the company said the water was not acidic.

“I know you cannot declare that without a scientific assessment of the quality of the water. We are going to meet them and hear them out, but in the long term we are going to be part of the government department that is here.

“The best thing to do is to work together as government to attend to the crisis.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.