The clean up of acid mine drainage on the Witwatersrand needs to be implemented as soon as possible, the Democratic Alliance in Gauteng said on Wednesday.
The DA welcomed the news that the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) was scheduled to oversee a short-term clean-up project, spokesperson Thomas Walters said in a statement.
“While this project is welcome, this news should not hide the fact that a crisis remains that has not been dealt with. There is still a lack of clarity as to what government intends as a comprehensive solution, with intended deadlines, budgets, liabilities and responsibilities hidden from the public gaze,” he said.
TCTA is a state-owned organisation which funds and develops bulk raw water infrastructure.
While the problem was most acute in Gauteng, small parts of the North West, the Free State and the Northern Cape were also affected.
In a report presented to the Cabinet in February, a group of experts found that millions of litres of rapidly rising acid mine water under Johannesburg would start flooding the lower levels of the Gold Reef City tourist mine early next year.
Shortly thereafter, the acid mine drainage would pass through an “environmentally critical” level — with potentially devastating consequences — before starting to flow on the surface.
The report warned that if the water was allowed to continue to rise, it would start “decanting in low-lying areas in the vicinity of the ERPM Mine in Boksburg and possibly elsewhere across the Witwatersrand”. – Sapa