The Kopanong municipality in the Free State has appointed a legal firm to ensure that it is able to reclaim for infrastructural damage following the collapse of a tailings dam in Jagersfontein on 11 September. The dam collapse killed at least one person and left hundreds homeless.
Lawyer Andries Nkome from Phosa and Loots Attorneys described the damage at a recent media briefing. “Mud ran through [the municipality’s] sewer systems [and] water reticulation systems [and] damaged their electricity infrastructure as well as communications systems,” he said.
The municipality instructed the legal team to consult with individuals who suffered losses. “You would realise that there is a person who lost their life, there will be claims for losses of support that was supposed to be instituted for the children or the dependents of such a person. There are also people who have lost houses.
“We are prioritising that and are making sure that people are able, as soon as possible, to get back into the properties that they used to reside in. Obviously, relating to the collapse of houses, there are losses of furniture that was inside the home, cars, as well as other things that people owned,” he said.
On Saturday, a funeral service was held for 70-year-old Aaron Mosweu, whose home was swept away by the torrent of grey sludge that inundated the area, and which destroyed other houses, cars and residents’ belongings. Two people remain missing.
The National Disaster Management Centre has classified the failure of the tailings storage facility, owned by Jagersfontein Developments, as a provincial disaster.
Mathews Phosa, who is a former ANC treasurer general and the director of the law firm, said the “community here suffered huge losses” and “it’s our responsibility as lawyers entrusted with a mandate to ensure that justice prevails.
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