WeeklySA_AdminPREVALENCE: Research findings and recommendations on the risks shared with all stakeholders, including the Department of Health, no feedback or action
By Xolani Baloyi
The gold mine dumps towering over parts of Soweto are a familiar landscape. But for those living in their shadow, these landmarks pose a serious health threat.
In 2017, the Bench Marks Foundation conducted research looking into household health in mine-affected communities in Soweto.
The research found that acid mine drainage and toxic dust from mine dumps are a real and constant threat, causing a higher prevalence of respiratory illnesses like asthma in nearby communities. The danger extends beyond mining, with sewage, industrial, and municipal waste also contributing to the problem.
David Van Wyk, lead researcher at Bench Marks Foundation, says the research findings and recommendations were shared with all stakeholders, including the Department of Health. But no feedback was received.
“Growing up in Diepkloof next to a mine dump was normal, as the mine dump was seen as a natural mountain,” says Michael Lelaka of Soweto.
“However, growing older, we saw that the mountain was yellow in colour. And during the dry season, it is unbearable living in Diepkloof. The gold dust will cover the yard with a fine yellow dust. You’ll find this dust inside the house, on the food and at times in bed.”
Now, aged 43, he knows this dust is choking his community.
“If it wasn’t for research conducted by Bench Marks Foundation, we would not know about the health hazards of the mine dumps and uranium dust,” says Lelaka. He and his two brothers struggled with breathing complications and bronchitis in childhood. Other residents Health-e News spoke with say asthma, other respiratory diseases, and skin problems are common in their families.
Sylvia Rametsi, a senior nurse and clinic manager, says her facility sees the same respiratory challenges as other clinics.
“We’ve seen a trend in the increase of respiratory illnesses during the dry season and cases of eczema. But we can’t say for certain that this increase is caused by the mine dump,” she says.
Rametsi adds that the Department of Health should conduct its own research and compare it to existing research about the mine dumps. “This would help us monitor and create systems to determine if some illnesses are caused by mine dust.”
Rapule Moiloa, a Bench Marks Community Monitor based in Diepkloof, says the lack of awareness is community-wide. “Community members lack the knowledge about the mine dumps and the dangers,” he says. “Even now, you’ll find kids playing at the mine dump. It’s like entertainment for them to be at the mine dump.”
Mining companies in South Africa are legally obligated to put up signs and take other measures to prevent people from accessing mine dumps. But this doesn’t appear to be happening.
“When you walk around the mine dumps, you’ll see livestock grazing at the mine dump and people who go to the dump to pray and wash with contaminated water which flows through the mine dump, and the water has an orange, red and grey colour,” says Moiloa.
Other research done in the area found mining pollution leaches into rivers and groundwater. Residents living nearby are inadvertently eating produce grown in soil that’s contaminated with acid mine drainage. Katlego Metsinyane, a Diepkloof community member, runs a small-scale farm at Ikaneng Primary School, growing spinach, beetroot, cabbage, and lettuce. The school lies within sight of three mine dumps.
Still, Metsinyane is not convinced that his crops are at risk. He believes pollution is tied to the intensity of mining. “There is no large-scale mining here anymore, so the dust levels are not that high,” he says.
Meanwhile, For 140 years, gold mines in Johannesburg have been leaking wastewater contaminated with heavy metals, according to a recent report by The Conversation. The acid mine drainage from Johannesburg’s estimated 278 abandoned mines and 200 mine dumps includes uranium (a radioactive metal), toxic arsenic, copper, cobalt, nickel, lead and zinc.
Acid mine drainage can pollute land and water sources up to 20 kilometres away from a mine unless it is remediated by mining companies. The contamination cascades through food webs and poisons river water, plants and animals.
Before 1994, African communities were forcibly relocated to places near mine dumps in Soweto, south-west of Johannesburg. Today, Soweto is home to 1.9 million people who are exposed to acid mine drainage.
Environmental scientists Salerwe Mosebi, Khayalethu Ntushelo and Lesego Khomo from the Department of Environmental Science, University of South Africa, have researched how acid mine drainage affects urban agriculture in Soweto. Residents of the area rely on their small vegetable gardens to supplement their income and help meet their nutritional needs.
Their research found that acid mine drainage had contaminated the streams, irrigation water sources and subsequently, the soil on the land adjacent to the Klip River, which flows south and west of Soweto.
In very mild doses, exposure to the heavy metals in acid mine drainage can cause dehydration and abdominal pain. In cases of serious exposure, birth defects, brain damage, cancer and miscarriages can result.
Mining companies are supposed to keep money aside to rehabilitate the environment after they close shop, and can only close down once the government has granted a closure certificate. But this did not always happen in the past. These environmentalists also found that some Soweto residents were very vulnerable to heavy metal dust that is blown around during strong winds.
“We hope the government will take steps to safeguard people in Soweto affected by acid mine drainage. This will help ease the burden on an already strained public health sector now and in the future” the trio said.
“The abandoned mines should be lawfully decommissioned. People living very close to the mine dumps must be relocated, and a rehabilitation programme must be implemented to sustain urban agriculture”. – Health-e News. Additional reporting by WSAM and The Conversation
