A mine dam wall collapsed in Jagersfontein in the Free State on Tuesday evening.
Mayor of the Kopanong municipality, Xolani Tseletsele said the incident happened at around 9pm. This was the second dam to burst in the community this month.
Speaking on eNCA, Tseletsele said unlike the last time, the dam released water.
In the first incident on September 11 where a tailings dam wall burst, it released fast flowing sludge that ruined land, property and killed at least one person and left scores of livestock dead.
"What [the mine officials] have told me is that due to the rains we suffered in the last two days, the dam burst but it was only water. I am from site now and had a physical look at it. There is no more [water] flow to the community but what the incident has done is that it has brought back the panic to the community," said Tseletsele.
There’s been another dam wall collapse in Jagersfontein in Free State. This barely a month after a tailings dam burst its banks, leaving one person dead and hundreds homeless. #DStv403 #eNCA
— eNCA (@eNCA) September 27, 2022
Story here: https://t.co/tTIU5NpPEP pic.twitter.com/xIEY5lr0bK
No immediate damage to property or loss of life was reported in the latest incident.
Meanwhile, the office of Free State premier Sefora Ntombela said as it tried to determine the impact of the latest incident, it had established that community members were not in imminent danger.
"It is understood that the water is running through the neighbourhood of Charlesville and the nearby Dennis Louw farm," read a statement from Ntombela's office.
"The R706 is closed to traffic. Motorists are advised to use an alternative gravel road to Fauresmith to access Jagersfontein."
The premier called for the community not to panic, saying the provincial disaster team, police and paramedics had been deployed to the area.
This incident comes five days after her office committed to rebuilding the lives of those who lost their homes and land in the September 11 disaster,
In an update on the steps it has taken to assist those affected, Ntombela's office the said the search and rescue mission for two people unaccounted for remains activated.
The missing were named as Mantele Mokhali, 50, and 70-year-old Shadrack Williams.
A 70-year-old man - identified only as Mr Mosweu, was initially among those unaccounted for, but he was identified by the forensic unit as the only deceased in the tragedy.
