Jagersfontein disaster: Promised aid and houses nowhere to be seen seven months later [PICS and VIDEO]

Seven months after a tsunami mudslide from a local mine swept through the township of Charlesville in the Free State – taking with it lives, house and people’s dreams – it has become a ghost town… and a town of ghosts.

As we drive through the deserted streets, there is an eerie, end-of-world atmosphere hanging over the wrecked houses. The twisted bodies of swept-away cars lie where they came to rest, while pigs root nearby in disinterest.

The mud from the collapsed tailings dam has turned into dust. Who knows what’s in it or how toxic it is when the wind whips it up? Residents – at least the ones we can find – are still reeling from the devastation of losing their homes and loved ones, but most of all the sense that they have been abandoned or forgotten about.

Watch: Rebuilding after Jagersfontein mine dam burst

‘There’s just nothing’

The pain is still raw for Peseletso Tlou, whose sister’s body was swept away on the fateful day on 11 September last year and is yet to be recovered, leaving her, her son and husband in the dark. All that Tlou wishes for is a call from the police to inform her sister had been found, dead or alive, so her family could have peace.

“There is no search, no-one tells us anything, there’s just nothing – even from the mine. For now, even if we get bones so we can bury them, maybe we will have peace.”

While the mine has taken responsibility for the tragedy and committed to make available millions of rands to assist and compensate the affected families, Tlou says even if they were to be compensated by the mine, it would not bring her sister back.

“We do not care about the money, all we need is my sister, so her children and her grandchildren can go and visit her in her grave,” she said.

Apart from the pigs wallowing in what used to be a stream, the only sign of life in the disaster area is excavators removing the thousands of tons of now-dried mine sludge and putting it into trucks to be carted away.

Abandoned houses, foundations and the cars show how the once-thriving community was destroyed. The tragedy damaged and swept away hundreds of homes, claimed three lives, several injuries, and hundreds of animals.

Shortly afterwards, officials, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the area and promised that the mine and government would build more than 250 homes for the affected people. But to date, according to residents, only three incomplete houses have been built by Jagersfontein Developments Mine.

‘Survived but suffering’

Mosoeu talks about the day she survived her near-death experience and how her beloved husband Aaron lost his life. Sitting outside a one-roomed property, rented by the mine for her family, wearing her purple and white pyjamas, bearing the burns and scars on her skin of that morning, the 60-year-old woman describes how she had to swim through the mudslide with her husband.

“Furniture was falling on top of us while we were trying to fight through the toxic mud. I survived – but I am suffering,” Mosoeu says.

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She is currently undergoing treatment after swallowing the mud while fighting for her life. Mosoeu says seeing the place where her house once was and driving past the disaster area brings back many painful memories.

“It’s a nightmare. Sometimes I do not even sleep and I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and start screaming. It’s painful.

“Even seeing the mudslide around the area pains me a lot, it broke my feelings and I do not know if I’ll ever heal. I’ll never forget.”

She pauses and goes on: “My husband’s life will never be brought back. I can’t heal – the way it happened. I’m traumatised, speaking about it opens wounds for me.

“I have no joy in my life, although there is progress but inside, I can’t heal.”

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She says what would ease her pain is for the mine to build her house, buy her the furniture she lost and see to it that her health is taken care of.

At the time of the tragedy, the mine said it would immediately provide R20 million to assist the residents and neighbouring communities… but so far little assistance has been forthcoming, say the residents.

Jagersfontein disaster: ‘We will never forget’

A former resident of the area, Motlalepule Mosala, who lost her grandfather during the disaster, says the mine had not done anything for them except for paying monthly rent for a shack the family currently occupies.

Mosala’s grandfather was swept away by the mudslide on the day of the disaster and his body was only recovered on 30 September.

“We will never forget that day. If there was progress on the side of the mine, maybe things would be better – but nothing. We do not even know how long they will continue to pay the rent because the last time we had a meeting, they asked for six weeks so they can find out if the dam will not cause a problem again,” she says.

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A survivor, who did not want to be named, said the most painful thing was that they were dumped in a one-bedroom house that was being paid for by the mine. However, no-one has since communicated with them.

“We are only told in the meeting with the mine representatives that our houses are being built. But nothing has happened. I don’t even know where these houses are being built. They don’t care about what happens to you as long as they pay for the room,” the survivor tells us.

Mudslide destroyed our lives

She says the only clothes she has are the ones that were donated to her by good Samaritans.

“They pay for the room and everything else is your responsibility. The furniture we have is what we salvaged after the mudslide. These people destroyed our lives and my life is very difficult now.”

A farmer, Dennis Louw, says he lost 208 animals that were meant to be sold in February, effectively losing his livelihood. Louw also lost 1 000 hectares of land, which will probably only be rehabilitated in the next 15 to 30 years.

“Financially, it has not been easy, I have people working for me and I lost a lot of fields. I have not let anyone go, I have chosen to hold on to my staff because they depend on me. So, financially it has not been easy,” he says.

“I just want my field back but it’s going to take about 15 to 30 years. They do not know how long it will take because it is the first time in South Africa that a dam like this broke on a farm field.”

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Louw says despite all the promises, they have received no compensation for their loss.

“We never received any compensation from the mine, or anything. The department of agriculture is doing some rehabilitation in some plots and it will take about another year to see how they can clean up the mess there,” he adds.

– lungam@citizen.co.za