operation threatening wetlands

'rehabilitation' effort that poses a threat to a Ramsar site in Gauteng.

- By Ed Stoddard and Felix Dlangamandla

The reclamation of the Grootvlei tailings facility is being conducted in a haphazard manner, threatening a Ramsar wetland in eastern Gauteng.

The reclamation of the Grootvlei tailings facility is being conducted in a haphazard manner, threatening a Ramsar wetland in eastern Gauteng.

us to continue rehabilitating Grootvlei indefinitely and protect wetlands, while deposition will occur at a new, approved and licensed facility to be confirmed through diligence studies.”

One problem with this is that aside from “rehabilitation”, “reclamation” is also taking place, as well as re-mining. Rehabilitation refers broadly to restoring a mining site to its “natural” state, while the aim of reclamation is often to clean up the area for future productive use such as agriculture or even urban development.

After Daily Maverick’s initial queries last year to the Department of Water and Sanitation, officials from its compliance monitoring and enforcement section — using GPS coordinates we provided — conducted a site investigation on 21 November.

“The department found that there was no water use authorisation for the rehabilitation work, and is initiating an enforcement process against the responsible company. An update will be provided as and when progress is registered on the process,” the department said in an email on 20 January.