The 54-year-old government disability grant recipient, Paseka Mokhali, tells OFM News that news of the search for her wife being called off caught him off guard.

ALSO READ: Search for missing Jagersfontein disaster victim called off

He says he is deeply pained since his wife, Mantele Mokhali, went missing following the disaster. Mokhali says what pains him more is the fact that no government or mine official ever bothered to inform him about the search being called off. 

The woman has now been missing for two months. Two other bodies were found on separate dates after the disaster. The body of the first victim was found on the same night of the incident whilst the body of the second victim was discovered more than 10 kilometers away on Friday 30 September 2022 by a passer-by who then alerted officials.

ALSO READ - #BreakingNews: #JagersfonteinDisaster’s death toll increases

Many of the victims of the disaster were housed in different shelters in Bloemfontein, Jagersfontein and Fauresmith outside the town. Following this tragic disaster, which damaged infrastructure valued at millions, Premier Sisi Ntombela assembled officials from the Emergency Medical Services College to assist with the rescue mission and search.

ALSO READ - #JagersfonteinDisaster: Ntombela sends management teams

OFM News previously reported residents of Jagersfontein and Fauresmith have been warned to brace themselves for possible water-shedding. This, as the effects of September’s flood disaster continue to weigh heavily on the Free State’s Kopanong Local Municipality.

The Free State municipality, which is still grappling with the disastrous effects of the flood, says it appears that there is a high concentration of sludge at the Kalkfontein Dam, and as such residents of Jagersfontein and Fauresmith would be affected by this.

ALSO READ: Sludge necessitates water-shedding in Jagersfontein – VIDEOS

Earlier this month, the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo, accompanied by Mayor Xolani Tseletsele and others, opened a criminal case regarding water pollution against the local mine.

"We have the responsibility as a government to act when an owner of a facility like this, failed to take certain actions. Today, on the basis of that, we have completed our own assessment. We're now opening a case on the basis of the National Water Act," Mahlobo said.

Earlier, the Free State Office of Water and Sanitation's spokesperson, Larry Crisp, said a forensic report is being done to determine the extent of the pollution.

OFM News