Mine tailings dam ‘built to fail’

JAGERSFONTEIN: COLLAPSE BLAMED ON COST-CUTTING, IGNORED SAFETY WARNINGS

- Masoka Dube

As the court case against those accused of being responsible for the tragedy caused by the collapse of the Jagersfontein mine tailings dam in 2022 began on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter claimed the dam was poorly built to cut costs.

Five employees from the engineering company that constructed the dam about 10 years ago appeared briefly in the Jagersfontein Magistrate's Court in Free State on Wednesday.

The case was postponed to 22 October for further investigation.

The dam wall collapsed on 11 September 2022, releasing sludge and water which swamped Charlesville, the adjacent township, killing three people, injuring others, damaging infrastructure, destroying houses, and killing livestock.

The source said the disaster was inevitable because the engineering firm that erected the dam did the opposite of what should have been done.

“The contractor was advised to build the tailings dam on the southwestern side of the site, just below the modern tailings dump,” said the source.

“They did the complete opposite and built the dam on the eastern side, close to the R704 road, facing the town.