CJ Louw, a farmer in Jagersfontein working alongside his father, Dennis, is worried after learning it will take several decades for their business to recover after the recent tailings dam disaster damaged the family farm.
CJ said besides losing lots of sheep in the disaster, the sludge covering their farm destroyed their land.
“We are not sure about the path ahead. It is still a real shock in our household, to my mother, my father and my sister,” he said.
“The people who tested the veld, grazing land and water on the farm have told us it will probably take 50 to 100 years to have the veld restored to its full capacity,” said CJ.
He said the family was devastated by the severe loss of investment in the farm.
CJ said the pressure was felt by his father who had to watch everything that he worked for in his life “washed away in a matter of seconds”.
The Free State department of agriculture and rural development said on Wednesday 865 animals belonging to 49 farmers were killed in the disaster.
Department spokesperson Zimasa Leputla said on Wednesday these figures may increase as assessments continue.
“Subsistence and smallholder farmers on commonages have lost their livestock,” she said.
She said at this stage more than 2,000 hectares (ha) of land will need to be rehabilitated before the land is suitable for grazing again.
The damage to the grazing land, excluding the area around the river, is estimated at 2,615ha, while the damage to grazing land along the river is estimated at 1,546ha.
The grazing land on commonages is estimated at 250ha. Access roads to farms also need to be rebuilt.
“Farmers have attempted to clear up low water bridges to ensure easy access to farms,” she said.
Leputla said the department noted the damage and losses caused by the sludge from the tailing dam.
“The incident has negatively affected the agricultural sector, causing damage to grazing land and livestock. On-site assessments are still being conducted to determine the extent of the damage.
“Of the 164 houses that were destroyed, subsistence producers were negatively affected as their backyard gardens were completely wiped out,” she said.
According to the department, households in and around Jagersfontein are highly dependent on agriculture.
She added 14 smallholder and commercial farmers on 29 farms, who live along the Prosesspruit and Kromellenboogspruit rivers and use them for irrigation, have also been affected by polluted waters.
Mpoi Ntaitsane, 25, from Charlesville township lost all her farming tools and the livestock feeds from the disaster but is adamant she will one day start afresh.
She operated her farming business from communal land and also had a backyard home garden.
A week before the disaster struck, Ntaitsane planted vegetables at her home’s backyard garden hoping to sell them to her community during festive season.
“I was planning towards the festive season. During the festive season, besides going to Mangaung Fresh Produce Market, I am also able to sell some of my harvested spinach to the community,” she said.
“I lost the livestock feed, seed, farming tools, and my mentor had gifted me some goats. We lost those goats and sheep,” she said.
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She said she started farming about three years ago and registered her enterprise in 2020.
Ntaitsane, a University of Free State graduate studying towards a postgraduate diploma in agricultural business management at Unisa, said she studied part-time so she could focus her attention on building her farm.
“I wanted to see my farm growing, and over time I would be able to employ people from my community because unemployment is rife here.
Ntaitsane said community members were unhappy with the mining facility, which they had hoped would address unemployment.
“It just made it worse because people don’t have homes now. We don’t have income,” she said.
She added that most of the farming items she lost were a package from the provincial department of agriculture.
Parliament’s select committee on land reform, mineral resources and energy embarked on a fact-finding mission to the area on Tuesday.
“We are here to get answers, we are here because of the tragedy. Lives were lost and people are traumatised. We are here to get information,” said committee chairperson Tebogo Modise.
On day one of the oversight, the committee held a joint meeting with the Free State legislature, where it met various stakeholders, including the department of mineral resources & energy and energy (DMRE) and the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment (DFFE).
Briefing the committee, the DMRE said according to their records, De Beers was the last mining company to operate in the area.
However, the DMRE does not have jurisdiction in the area because minerals are no longer being extracted there.
The committee said that a court judgment ruled that tailings or surface dumps are not subject to control by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA). Consequently, the DMRE does not have jurisdiction to regulate these dumps.
Regional manager of mineral regulation Kalipa Kewuti explained to the committee that there is now a company on-site working on the surface of the area processing waste material from mining operations in the 1970s.
DMRE informed the committee that as a result of the court judgment, the department would only be able to regulate mine dumps if the current legislation is amended. Mine dumps are the private property of the mining company that created them.
Modise noted that another meeting is required with the DMRE, DFFE and police to address issues arising from the engagement.
“The committee would like to know why the DMRE did not appeal the court’s judgment at the time,” it said.
The committee was expected to meet and engage with the community and the municipality on Wednesday as it continues with its oversight in Jagersfontein.
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