Mariette Liefferink – The Mail & Guardian

/ 6 December 2024

‘I’m fighting for my sons’ lives,’ says father of trapped illegal miners in Krugersdorp

The relatives of illegal artisanal miners who are trapped underground in in a flooded mine shaft say that the authorities have failed to help them

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 22 November 2024

Illegal mining proliferates when the state fails to issue closure certificates and regulate compliance

The problem has wide-ranging socio-economic and environmental impacts, says a draft mine closure strategy

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By Sheree Bega

National

/ 15 July 2024

The hazardous legacy of Krugersdorp’s abandoned mines

Experts say the government must fund acid mine drainage clean-ups to protect the right of citizens to a healthy environment and clean water

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 25 April 2024

Toxic acid mine water continues to rise underground on East Rand

The situation is frightening, says an anonymous source who used to work at the department of water and sanitation

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 27 March 2024

SA’s rivers and dams can no longer recover from pollution, say water scientists

About seven billion litres of sewage are released every day into rivers and dams

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 21 April 2023

Witwatersrand goldfield acid mine drainage ‘with us for millennia’

Quick fixes are inadequate to prevent damage from gold mining’s legacy, but the long-term plan of treating AMD could relieve water shortages

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 9 March 2023

Faecal pollution severely contaminates SA’s rivers, dams – report

More than half of the sites showed a high health risk if water
was used for irrigation

By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 12 January 2023

Cradle of Humankind residents fear sinkholes, groundwater contamination from toxic acid mine drainage

Excessive rainfall last month has caused untreated toxic water from old gold mines to decant into waterways on the West Rand

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 12 July 2022

Long-awaited legislation seeks to strengthen SA’s environmental regime

National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act introduce new offences, increase quantum of fines, extend enforcement powers to municipal managers

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 29 June 2022

Pumping of acidic mine water on East Rand delayed — again

The plant’s closure means that a tide of toxic mine water is rising significantly underground, which could decant into the environment within months

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 27 May 2022

Acid mine water continues to rise underground on the East Rand

Levels at a treatment plant in Springs have now breached a critical environmental threshold

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 29 April 2022

Deep concern over rising underground tide of toxic acidic mine water on East Rand

Broken abstraction pumps at the Eastern basin treatment plant mean that water supply may become contaminated, posing a serious threat

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 27 March 2022

‘My child would still be alive’ if that dam at the mine wasn’t there

The drowning of 10-year-old Mapula Raleholi is the latest in a series at mining sites in Gauteng

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 9 February 2022

Environment minister in crosshairs over proposed amendment to environmental regulations

The proposed change will make it impossible for civil society, or their lawyers, to appeal environmental authorisations without using the services of a costly environmental assessment practitioner

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By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 15 August 2021

Klip River’s ‘holy water’ a danger

A new study says the river’s wetlands have accumulated toxic pollutants from mining for more than a century

By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 14 August 2021

South Africa’s closed mines must not shaft people

The government’s vision for mined land: farms, tourism and self-generation of electricity

By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 25 July 2021

Water sector to clean up its act

The Blue and Green Drop programmes are being relaunched to rebuild SA’s often poorly maintained and ‘looted’ water systems

By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 20 June 2021

There is shit in the Hennops River: ‘No way you can call this water’

E.Coli counts in tributaries feeding the Hennops River run into tens of millions, far above the permitted limit

By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 12 June 2021

State halts its R10bn long-term plan to fully treat acid mine water

The state is saddled with the burden of treating acid water and polluters are escaping the responsibility

By Sheree Bega

The Green Guardian

/ 5 June 2021

West Rand: ‘These mine dumps are destroying us’

Mining areas on the West Rand are ecologically dead because of poor rehabilitation

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By Sheree Bega

National

/ 27 May 2021

Acid mine water a rising threat

About 360 tonnes of salts are dissolved in the Vaal River system every day

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