They say they will be using their hands to make a difference while appealing to the public to assist with other resources.

This is according to the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) member overseeing Civic and Social Responsibility matters, Junior Sijane.  He says 60 students from the university went to Jagersfontein on Thursday to assist with cleaning. He adds that they started asking for donations a few days after the disaster while planning to use the recess period for support to Jagersfontein residents.

“What basically happened was one or two days after the mine collapsed, I took it upon myself, with one of the SRC members, to make proposals to a few stakeholders in the university to help us work together to assist the people of Jagersfontein.  We just wanted to collaborate with them just for us to have a bigger impact in this whole thing,” Sijane said.

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Sijane appeals to members of the public to contact the university’s SRC if they want to join the cleaning project that they have initiated, or if they would like to make contributions.

OFM News previously reported that twelve social workers have been deployed to assist affected residents with psychosocial services as they were traumatised. The incident left them homeless after their homes, cars, and other belongings were swiped away by a strong stream of sludge. The department’s spokesperson, Lindiwe Mnguni, said that since the day of the incident they have been receiving great support from various organisations and have managed to set up a food and a clothing bank for those left homeless.

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The provincial government stated that extensive work is being done to restore basic services such as water, sanitation, and waste removal in all the affected areas of Jagersfontein. The provincial government also confirmed that the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has deployed a mobile unit to help the affected community in accessing their grants.

OFM News/Mpho Mohapi and Victoria Nkosi