Luphert Chilwane
20 November 2008
Johannesburg — THE public face of SA's mining sector is seen by labour unions and environmentalists as dirty and dangerous.
Acid water, environmental pollution and energy emissions are just some of the challenges contributing to air and waterborne diseases.
Gauteng has 158 mine dumps, many in the western areas of Johannesburg. There are 116 gold mines, 27 diamond mines and 15 coal mines in the province that have been abandoned.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) recently presented an impact assessment report to a discussion forum which shows that the process of mining involves activities that give rise to various diseases.
Blasting is accompanied by a thunderous noise and vibration of the ground, producing a lot of dust, thus increasing the particulate matter in both air and water.
The NUM says these are some of the reasons most mineworkers suffer from various respiratory diseases, such as pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and silicoses, as well as asbestos-related, skin and eye diseases, acute diarrhoea or noise -induced hearing loss.
Impala Platinum, for example, in its 2007 financial report recorded 348 pulmonary TB cases at its five major operations - Rustenburg, 313; Springs, four; Marula, seven; Mimosa, 10; and Zimplats 14. This represented an incidence of 1181 per 100000 employees a year, an increase of 13,8% from 1037 in 2006.
The NUM's deputy general secretary, Oupa Komane says: "The failure of the industry to adopt responsible mining practices has led in the main to the externalisation of the cost burden of development and rehabilitation to the poor.
"The fact that the government, and by extension the very affected communities, have to carry the burden of the rehabilitation of the so-called ownerless and derelict mine dumps, and the huge occupational health burden, is a damning indictment on the industry".
Holger Weiss, groundwater research specialist with Germany's Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, told the forum that an estimated 40% of South Africans cannot access clean drinking water because of acidity caused by mining pollution.
He has offered to help SA by bringing German research skills to address the problem.
He says that groundwater pollution and acid mining lakes continue to pose a health problem.
Phil Hobbs, a senior researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, says acid mine water in SA has already manifested itself as a clear and present danger to the environment.
He says mine water pollution has this year been identified by the environmental affairs and tourism department as an emerging issue "that may affect the future state of the environment".
He says that West Rand mining dumps had more than 250000 cubic litres of acid water that comes to the surface a day.
This is equivalent to 10 swimming pools.
"When our SA-German conceptualised project, the Mitigation of Mining Impacts on Natural and Socioeconomic Environment (MMINE) does get going, we anticipate a minimum period of three years, but hope that it will sustain itself into the longer term as well."
Marjorie Pyoos , a group executive officer on socioeconomic partnership at SA's science and technology department, has encouraged the mining industry to strive to counteract the bad image of being regarded as "dirty and dangerous".
She says although SA is enjoying growth in the mining industry, it faces challenges as ore bodies go deeper and skills become harder to acquire.
She says the MMINE project will present an opportunity to train postgraduate and postdoctoral students.
South African Chamber of Mines communication adviser Jabu Maphalala says the reality about mining is that it is an expensive, extractive process-based industry. Locations of mines are determined by the presence of minerals and are not a decision made by mining bosses, he says.
Maphalala says mining reality is about destruction and polluting the environment, but cautions miners to be responsible during operations, and treat the environment in a sustainable way.
Jurgen Mlynek, president of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, has expressed an interest in helping SA's destroyed landscapes and polluted waters.
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