Phosa’s law firm has been appointed by the Kopanong municipality to sue for damages.
The Kopanong municipality in the Free State has appointed a legal firm to ensure that it is able to reclaim for infrastructural damage following the collapse of a tailings dam in Jagersfontein on 11 September. The dam collapse killed at least one person and left hundreds homeless.
Lawyer Andries Nkome from Phosa and Loots Attorneys described the damage at a recent media briefing. “Mud ran through [the municipality’s] sewer systems [and] water reticulation systems [and] damaged their electricity infrastructure as well as communications systems,” he said.
The municipality instructed the legal team to consult with individuals who suffered losses. “You would realise that there is a person who lost their life, there will be claims for losses of support that was supposed to be instituted for the children or the dependents of such a person. There are also people who have lost houses.
“We are prioritising that and are making sure that people are able, as soon as possible, to get back into the properties that they used to reside in. Obviously, relating to the collapse of houses, there are losses of furniture that was inside the home, cars, as well as other things that people owned,” he said.
On Saturday, a funeral service was held for 70-year-old Aaron Mosweu, whose home was swept away by the torrent of grey sludge that inundated the area, and which destroyed other houses, cars and residents’ belongings. Two people remain missing.
The National Disaster Management Centre has classified the failure of the tailings storage facility, owned by Jagersfontein Developments, as a provincial disaster.
Huge losses
Mathews Phosa, who is a former ANC treasurer general and the director of the law firm, said the “community here suffered huge losses” and “it’s our responsibility as lawyers entrusted with a mandate to ensure that justice prevails.
“We would like to recover monies for the damages suffered and we would like the law to take its course in respect of any possible criminal actions, which may have been committed, and we think there are a number of criminal activities committed there. So, the police must investigate, the department of mineral resources and energy needs to investigate and find out what the facts are,” Phosa said.
Nkome said the lawyers arrived at Jagersfontein on 12 September and were able to get instructions from the municipality. “The process to speak to family members started immediately and we can confirm that for the past two weeks we have been meeting with individuals and making sure that we zoom in on the instructions that they gave us. We are getting details about whose property was to what value, we are able to make sure that all of those claims, we are making sense of it.”
The law firm is working with attorneys Tshangana and Associates “as the work is quite extensive”, and it has a local presence, Nkome said. “They are able to make sure that people are able to have one-on-one consultations in the office and are able to give as much information and in that way our claim will be properly prepared and in that way we will be able to drag it to the courts.
“We have been able to … have negotiations started with the mining house, so far as to seeking to settle this, and we have been saying to them that it’s pretty premature for us to seek negotiation discussions, when we are here to have all the claims being brought and signed on to our firms, for the purpose of making sure that we are able to confirm that we represent those people.”
Salutary lesson
On Monday, the Institute of Risk Management South Africa described the collapse of the tailings dam as a “salutary lesson in the importance of proper and ongoing risk management”.
“Our deepest condolences must go to those affected by this tragedy,” said Pat Semenya, its chief executive. “People have lost their livelihoods and loved ones seemingly because of a company that did not appear to prioritise risk management and maintain crucial infrastructure.”
Risk management protocols would have identified the weaknesses in infrastructure so that plans could have been made to reinforce the dam, preventing tragedies like this, he said.
“Preventable disasters like this call for the need to reflect on how important it is for companies to manage risk, do continual assessments and make sure insurance is up to date,” he said.
“Correct procedure involves identifying and evaluating hazards, deciding on precautions, implementing controls of health and safety hazards, and constantly reviewing and updating these plans and precautions when necessary.
“This should serve as a wake-up call to companies who operate in and around vulnerable communities. Proper risk management saves lives.”
Directive
Meanwhile, the department of small business development, tourism and environmental affairs has issued a National Environmental Management Act Section 30A directive to Jagersfontein Developments.
The directive provides for a person to be issued with a directive permitting them to carry out a listed or specified activity, without obtaining an environmental authorisation, to prevent or contain an emergency situation or its effects. According to the Free State government, “This directive will allow the company to start with the rehabilitation of the infrastructure and affected environment.”
The department, together with the departments of water and sanitation and of forestry, fisheries and the environment, are conducting chemical assessments of the sludge and the affected river systems for levels of heavy metals and other chemicals, “which, if present beyond the allowable threshold, may be harmful to both humans and animals”.
Scientists from the environmental affairs department are conducting toxicology studies of dead fish species along the affected river systems to assess the cause of death, “and any other interventions will be developed depending on the rehabilitation process unfolds on the ground”.
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