Evidence suggests that lax control during mining operations and a culture of shifting responsibility and outright denial have caused catastrophic damage to water systems and wetlands draining from the Witwatersrand basin. This pollution has even put farmers out of business, writes Rud
The Rheeders bought their stock farm close to Fochville in the North West in 1994. “We drank our borehole water and our livestock and pets also drank from it,” remembers 38-year-old Adriaan. “Then, in 2002, our dogs and livestock started miscarrying and the fish in our dam started to die.”
Today the farm can’t be farmed after the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) issued a directive stating it was no longer safe to use the borehole and dam water. The reason? Pollution from gold mines in the area. “My father, Pieter, wanted to retire here, but today he works in the Congo so we can survive,” says Adriaan bitterly.
Mariette Liefferink, an environmental activist and CEO of the NGO Federation for a Sustainable Environment, has worked closely with farmers affected by mining pollution. She has no problem fingering the guilty party in the Rheeders’ predicament. “The pollution on the Rheeder farm is a direct result of seepage from the South Deep Gold Mine tailings dams, the mine that belongs to the Gold Fields mining company,” she says.
A damning account
A Gauteng Department of Agriculture conservation and environment report stated that on the farm “the water quality results significantly exceed both irrigation and livestock water-quality requirements.” The report continues, “Comparisons with the Leeuwspruit water quality, upstream and downstream, indicate possible contamination from tailings dam seepages. Sulphate, manganese and uranium contamination are the main concerns.
“The continued and increased use of these tailings dams, without relevant mitigatory measures, is exacerbated by the fact that the water being polluted is used for crop irrigation and drinking water for livestock.” Mariette alleges that it’s Gold Fields mining company’s major deep-level gold mine at Westonaria that has resulted in the heartache for the Rheeders, and its pollution extends to the much publicised Wonderfonteinspruit near Potchefstroom (Farmer’s Weekly, March 2008).
Farmland bought by mines
More than 40 farmers used to farm commercially along the banks of the Wonderfonteinspruit. Today, only two enterprises remain. All the other farms that have become unsuitable for farming have been bought by the mines. “Sinkholes formed on those farms and fountains and boreholes have slowly dried up,” says Mariette. “Profitable farming there is no longer viable.”
Gold Fields formally denies ever purchasing property along the Wonderfonteinspruit, except for a small parcel of land donated to the University of the North West for research purposes. “As an individual company, we have not purchased any land along the Wonderfonteinspruit,” reads a formal Gold Fields report.
Gold Fields alleges that all the land next to the Wonderfonteinspruit now belongs to the Far West Rand Dolomitic Water Association. But the members of that association are mining companies, including Gold Fields, as well as the Department of Minerals and Energy and DWAF. Once the land was bought, Mariette alleges it was left to lie fallow without any effort to rehabilitate it.
The brothers Douw and Sas Coetzee own one of the farming enterprises left on the Wonderfonteinspruit. Both are currently studying to become electricians. Formerly commercial stock farmers on 1 500ha, mining pollution has rendered their farming operations untenable. Their equipment, machinery and storage facilities have been sold and their farm lies fallow.
Silencing farmers
Mariette alleges the mines have a definite agenda when it comes to dealing with polluted farmland. “They drag the purchase of farms out over years to a point where farmers have to sell equipment and belongings,” she alleges. “When farmers are desperate, they make them a measly offer.”
Mariette alleges that clauses in the sales contracts state that once the land is bought, no further claims can be made against the mines. Sellers are also not permitted to make details of the deals public, which means the farmers are hesitant to speak to the media. Gold Fields denies the allegations of such clauses. Mariette also alleges the farms are bought to silence farmers and to extract gold from dam or river sediment.
This seems to be borne out by a wetlands report by scientists Henk Coetzee, Jaco Venter and Gabriel Ntsume of the Council for Geoscience. Referring to the Coetzee’s farm dam, the studies done in 2002 “found elevated levels of heavy metals, particularly uranium and gold concentrations of up to 13g/t”. The study further states “a decision was made to mine the sediment in the dam for gold content”.
Gerhard Visser, the other remaining farmer on the Wonderfonteinspruit, has no quarrel with the mines. His name is liberally quoted by the mines and DWAF as an example of a landowner willing to compromise. “I just put more effort into cleaning my water,” Visser told Farmer’s Weekly. He then avoided all further contact. When Marius Keet, regional deputy director of Gauteng south, Water Quality Management for DWAF, was asked if mining pollution damaged agriculture along the Wonderfonteinspruit, he replied: “There’s a farmer, Gerhard Visser, his cattle drink from the Wonderfonteinspruit. How does that happen?” Gold Fields denies any relationship with Gerhard Visser.
Mines not the only culprits?
While Gold Fields acknowledges problems in the Wonderfonteinspruit, it isn’t prepared to be held solely responsible. “Wonderfonteinspruit suffers from a number of environmental stresses, with water users polluting the water, and legacy issues including run-off from a great number of old and long-closed mines,” reads an official response.
“We’ve established a regulatory committee,” explains Keet. “Not to do another study, but to go over existing studies. We’re issuing licenses and the National Nuclear Regulator is issuing directives to the mines to stop polluting at source.” Meanwhile, the mines continue to pump acid mine drainage into the water.
Contact Mariette Liefferink on 073 231 4893. |fw
