Central SA
#JagersfonteinDisaster: Damage 'catastrophic', says human rights lawyer─── 09:15 Thu, 15 Sep 2022
The Jagersfontein disaster could've been avoided if mining company, Jagersfontein Development, followed orders from authorities, according to human rights lawyer Richard Spoor.
He says there was an order from the Water Affairs Department back in 2020, ordering the company to stop dumping in the dam.
The dam wall burst on Sunday, leaving scores of houses destroyed and many displaced.
Spoor said, "well the damages and the harm people have suffered is catastrophic, also the possibility of heavy rains this summer season is coming... measures need to be put in place to ensure that the contaminated tailings aren't released into the water system. So, there's a risk of [further] disaster, there's a risk of much more significant pollution and contamination of water resources. It's going to take a really big effort on the part of the government and the mine to limit damage to what we've seen to date."
