Mogale City residents could be in danger of asbestos pollution, says DA

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has raised serious concern for the health of Mogale City area residents as they claim that asbestos pollution is causing severe health problems for residents.

In a statement by the DA’s Gauteng Constituency Head in Mogale City, Janho Engelbrecht, he said: “Cases of pulmonary fibrosis have been diagnosed as a result of being in close proximity to the area concerned. The DA is also in possession of lab tests which were conducted between 16 and 19 November 2018, which indicated that there was asbestos pollution in the area.”

They also claimed that a new proposed development in the area was worsening the situation.

“It is unacceptable that our people’s health and lives are being put in danger because of the asbestos pollution in the area,” read the statement.

They called on the Gauteng Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Affairs to conduct an investigation and intervene to ensure that the area is rehabilitated, adding that people residing in the immediate vicinity of the old asbestos mine should be evacuated until rehabilitation could be completed.

According to a response from the Mogale City Environmental Management Section’s Executive Manager, Thami Matshego, they believed the DA was referring to the asbestos mining that took place in the area before the 1930s, as not much information was provided.

“We further take on that the complaint is about Scott’s Mine and the West Rand Asbestos Mine that were operational in the Muldersdrift area,” she said.

She explained that the function of environmental management is overseen by national, provincial and local government. The different categories of municipalities also have different mandates in terms of the various aspects of environmental management.

Mogale City is a category B municipality and shares authority with the District Municipality, which could complicate matters when it comes to assigning duties and responsibilities.

A”dditionally, this is also an inter-sectoral issue since various sector departments have various roles, responsibilities and mandates within the environmental management function,” she said, adding that this meant that they cannot resolve this issue on their own and have to consult with the District Municipality.

Based on the claim by the DA, the MCLM has, however, said they have written a letter to the West Rand District Municipality to find out if they have any knowledge of any adverse health issue impacts caused by the old mines. She added that they have also written to the Department of Environmental Affairs to find out if they had any information pertaining to the issue, and if they would be able to help with studies.

Lastly she said the municipality is affiliated with a committee comprising of key government stakeholders, and although this committee only deals with the removal and remediation of Tudor Shaft Mine Tailing Dumps, they wanted to raise the complaint with them as well.

“To conclude, we would also like to indicate that our team is currently busy with site visits to some of the mines to establish the current status of those mines,” she said.

This article was republished from Krugersdorp News with permission 

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