Targeted investigation reports 2023 Empumeleweni, Mpumalanga: “Fighting for the restoration of a beautiful community stream”
extract: “I’m staying in a community called Empumelelweni in the Highveld region under Emalahleni Local Municipality.
It’s a small settlement mixed with informal settlements as a result of mining that is surrounding this area of Empumelelweni. The settlement is called Empumelelweni Extension 6. It has grown so big in a very short space of time because the people working in the mine have rented rooms here and some of them have built their shacks next to the mine not thinking about the fact that the universe and mother earth created a wetland here.
I have been staying here for 10 to 20 years. We are having a beautiful natural stream which is fed by the Olifants river. It is surrounding the community and used to flow nicely without any problems. There are more than eight communities depending on the stream. The stream flows through the communities. When we didn’t have running water from the taps, we knew that the stream is an alternative for us. The community was depending on the stream in terms of doing laundry and gardening. Nearby schools were also using the stream and even young children were swimming in it. Animals where also drinking from water. The stream was very helpful to us as a community. …
Since the arrival of mine in 2007 and the start of its operations, it is no longer the same. Mining damaged the beautiful stream that we used during water scarcity for our households needs. To our knowledge the mine didn’t follow correct procedures around the water use licenses and environmental impact assessments. They have taken short cuts in the set up and have taken advantage of the poor communities.
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