South Africa: Executive Council of the Free State (EXCO) yesterday, 19/10/22, met with Jagersfontein Development Mine at OR Tambo House in Bloemfontein.
The long overdue meeting follows the collapse of the mine dam that devastated the community of Jagersfontein, killing two people with one person still missing.
“This meeting is not an adversarial engagement but rather a congenital conversation to develop an inclusive and comprehensive approach to restoring the lives of our people.
The fundamental objective is for all those involved to join hands and to bring stability to those whose lives have been disturbed,” said the Director General of the Free State Provincial Government Kopung Ralikontsane.
The meeting agreed to form a task team comprising community representatives, Jagersfontein mine, Kopanong Local Municipality and the provincial government. This team will be tasked with developing a coordinated plan that takes into consideration all aspects of lives affected by the disaster and also proposes a strategic mechanism to begin to dispense the work of restoration in Jagersfontein.
There’s an urgent task of finding the remains of Mme Mamokgadi, who has been missing for over a month now. This entails making sure that the livelihoods of the people are also taken care of.
“We have taken a conscious decision to immediately avail funds to rebuild the houses of our people. We have already appointed structural engineers to make an assessment of the area and the destroyed properties. We will be deploying a workforce to clean up the area. We have also assumed the responsibility of paying for the accommodation of all affected families staying in and around the community and in hotels around Bloemfontein,” said a representative from the mine.
