‘If the coronavirus were to come to this area, it would finish us all’

Kamkhanqwa in Ekurhuleni is “not the kind of place where you can dress up and look smart” in. Residents of the informal settlement in Brakpan, say the pollution from nearby mines have left many people with chest problems.

Alongside non-governmental organisations, residents have also accused mining companies in the area of polluting the environment and failing to make positive changes to the community.

“Our roads are a mess. You can’t walk here when it’s wet. Sometimes you get a choking smell and think that someone is burning something on the street, but you find nothing [when you go and look],” said Dikeledi Mosia, who runs a crèche in the area.

However, the companies and the Ekurhuleni Local Municipality have denied receiving any formal complaints from residents about pollution. They say they have programmes to improve residents’ lives.

Ward 74 is led by the ANC councillor Thulani Simelane. He said while the Kamkhanqwa residents had “raised complaints about sanitation, housing and electricity, they did not link these to mining activities”.

“Before the lockdown I used to call public meetings to engage residents on their complaints, but those about the mines didn’t come up,” he said.

Residents’ complaints

According to Mosia, who has lived in the settlement since 2012: “It [Kamkhanqwa] is not a place where you can dress up and look smart.”

Mosia, who also works with the Ekurhuleni municipality to provide door to door adult education to residents, said: “The kids at the crèche are constantly having chest problems but you never know the cause. Life here is tough.”

Another resident, Pinky Mofokeng (42), works as a waste collector. She said that more needs to be done to help residents, especially with the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic stalking the country.

“The municipality empties them [portable] toilets once a week, but they sometimes get full before then. When this happens, some people resort to using buckets and plastics to relieve themselves.

“We also don’t have a clinic close by. I’m worried that if the coronavirus were to hit this area, it would finish [kill] us all,” she said.

When City Press visited the area last week, the Gauteng health department had reported 161 positive Covid-19 cases in Ekurhuleni.

Tozana Qetuka (72), who has lived in the settlement for 24 years, said Kamkhanqwa’s vicinity to mines had done more harm than good.

“They [the mines] haven’t done anything for us. We don’t have proper houses, we live in shacks with no electricity. The mines also emit smoke every night. I have had chest problems for the past four years because of this,” she told City Press.

The mines respond

Kamkhanqwa is a few kilometres from Sibanye-Stillwater PGM processing facility, which was acquired from Lonmin last June and an Ergo metallurgical plant, owned by DRDGold.

Despite the residents’ concerns, both Sibanye-Stillwater and Ergo said they had not received any formal complaints from them.

“Our closest community is Reedville [Mzumbe]. In terms of pollution, we are currently not exceeding our emission limits,” said James Wellsted, spokesperson for Sibanye-Stillwater.

“We have an established stakeholder engagement platform which we use to share information with communities, including our environmental programmes. We have not received any direct complaints through that platform.”

Meanwhile, Ergo said it would take up the matter with residents and their representatives. “Our Brakpan metallurgical plant was part of DRDGold’s acquisition of Ergo some years ago, before the informal settlement was established,” said James Duncan, spokesperson for Ergo.

“The informal settlement has access to a project which DRDGold’s Broad-based Livelihoods Programme has established in Reedville. It helps thousands of vulnerable people living within the operating footprints to use land, through using their household yards, to grow healthy food, to generate income and to undertake productive self-employment activities,” Duncan said.

Regarding the spread of Covid-19, Ergo said it had implemented initiatives that provide assistance for distressed communities.

“The Merafong Soweto and Ekurhuleni initiative is providing immediate and ongoing material care and emergency relief support to the most distressed households in vulnerable communities, helping them prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” Duncan said.

Tozana Qetuka a resident of kaMkhanqwa said she has had chest problems for the past four years from near-by mining activites. Picture: Tebogo Letsie

Despite this, the Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua), Women Affected by Mining United in Action (Wamua) and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies were among the stakeholders who wrote to Mining and Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe and President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling on them to protect mining-affected communities.

“These communities are especially vulnerable due to a number of factors such as their limited and sometimes non-existent, access to piped water and the prevalence of underlying respiratory illnesses as a result of air pollution from mining activities.

“Mining-affected communities need to be protected through screening and testing, providing personal protective equipment, medical facilities, transport, access to food and other basic necessities,” read the letter.

The letter was prior to Mantashe’s announcement that mining operations would restart at a 50% capacity during the lockdown. “A rigorous screening and testing programme must be implemented as employees return to work and the mining industry must provide quarantine facilities for employees who have tested positive for Covid-19,” said the minister.

Read: Gwede Mantashe under fire over controversial plan to reopen mines

Meshack Mbangula, the national coordinator for Macua, said their call still stands and “mining companies need to put people first instead of profits”.

“Before a mine can be given a licence, it needs to lay out social and labour plans on how it’s going to help surrounding communities. The mines have been here for many years, but there’s no change.

“They use the word investment to loot our minerals, contaminate the environment, make millions and leave. We cannot allow that to happen,” he told City Press.

However, both companies claimed they have helped the Kamkhanqwa community but some of the issues raised were beyond their scope.

Sibanye-Stillwater said that because the plant was an industrial facility located in a city, it did not require social and labour plans but that its “social responsibility programme includes skills development [learnerships], health and small business development”.

“We have continued to provide assistance as a consequence of contact with the leadership of the settlement directly and with Macua,” Ergo’s Duncan said. Sibanye-Stillwater said they had not had any engagements with Macua since acquiring the former Lonmin facility last year.

“It is also important to highlight that the settlement is not formalised, and service delivery remains the competency of local government,” Wellsted of Sibanye-Stillwater said.

“Since last year, we have accommodated 22 community members and two are from Kwankhanqwa [through Stillwater Sibanye’s social programmes],” Wellsted added.

Councillor Simelane said local government was “providing services where we can, but we can’t do much because the area is not owned by the municipality”.

He also said that “the mines prioritise residents in surrounding areas when job opportunities arise”.

Simelane was critical of Macua: “The problem with Macua is that they work alone and only tell half-truths.”

Mbangula insisted that the mines “don’t know the community’s problems because they never spoke to them in the first place”.

As the battle continues over who should've done what and when, Mosia said she was trying to help with whatever food parcels the community receive. “Not everyone gets informed when the parcels are here, so people have to keep a constant lookout in case they arrive.

“Only recently I was asked to help with the distribution of the food parcels. I know everyone, so I made sure I prioritised those who need them most,” she said.

Mosia also raised a point not unique to the Kwankhanqwa community: “How do you stay in the house [during lockdown] when you don’t have food?”

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