Central SA
#JagersfonteinDisaster: FSG impresses Ramaphosa─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 10:00 Tue, 13 Sep 2022
President Cyril Ramaphosa has applauded the Free State Premier and her team for their swift response to the Jagersfontein mine dam disaster which left many people homeless.
While addressing residents at the Fauresmith Hall on Monday 12 September 2022, Ramaphosa said that he was impressed by how the Free State's Premier Sisi Ntombela immediately reacted to the collapsed mine dam wall which left over 200 families homeless in Jagersfontein. Ramaphosa said the Jagersfontein incident has proved that different levels of government can deliver services to residents when they work hand in hand.
Ntombela had deployed the disaster management team and the Joint Operation Centre to Jagersfontein in the Kopanong Local Municipality after a mine dam wall collapsed on Sunday.
ALSO READ: Ntombela sends disaster management teams to Jagersfontein
Ramaphosa also pledged that there will be an extensive investigation into the incident and has since requested to be given a full report on a weekly basis. This follows allegations that there were several warnings issued to the mine about the dam, years before the incident took place. Ramaphosa said that he flew around the affected area with a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) chopper and saw the extent of the damage caused by the flood disaster.
[Watch] President Cyril Ramaphosa visits Jagersfontein where flooding from a disused mine has caused the evacuation of hundreds of people from their homes and the death of at least one person. #Jagersfontein pic.twitter.com/nJ0vm4tlmO
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) September 12, 2022
Victims of the Jagersfontein disaster expressed their frustration to Ramaphosa over the traumatic incident that they experienced. They demanded the national government to intervene and the mine to compensate them for all properties that were lost as a result of the incident.
ALSO READ: Jagersfontein victims talk about their traumatic experience
Meanwhile, the Jagersfontein Development Project (JDP) mining company said that it has made available R20 million to the affected residents and the town as a form of relief. The mine spokesperson, Leigh Ann Carey, stated that the company immediately made this money available to the affected people on the ground and for the restoration of the town.
ALSO READ: Millions made available to #JagersfonteinDisaster victims
