One person died, others were reported missing and the residents of the town of Jagersfontein in the Free State have been left homeless by a flash flood caused by the collapse of an abandoned tailings mine dam wall last Sunday. Picture: Twitter/@GovernmentZA
Residents in the mining town of Jagersfontein were left scrambling on Tuesday night, following another wall collapse. The recent rains in the area have been blamed for the collapse.
According to reports, Road 706 has been closed to traffic. Residents have been advised to use the Fauresmith gravel road to get to Jagersfontein.
Less than a month ago, one person was killed and hundreds left homeless when a wall collapsed.
Kopanong mayor Xolani Tseletsele said he was expecting a full report on Wednesday morning.
"It has created more panic in the community. The community has not completely healed from the disaster that happened on September 11," he said in an interview with eNCA.
The mayor said there was no further damage.
"The water was running behind the community and not in the community. For now, there is no major impact or damage to already-destroyed infrastructure. We are meeting with mining bosses to get a proper explanation looking at how these incidents can be prevented in future," Tseletsele said.
He said assessments were done after the last wall collapse. He was awaiting the reports and expecting reassurance from mine owners that future incidents could be prevented.
Meanwhile, Free State Premier Sefora Ntombela has announced that four contractors had begun construction on four model houses, using alternative building technology for the communities hit by the flooding caused by the previous collapse.
The new houses, “if approved by (the) beneficiaries, will be completed before the end of December”.
IOL
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