Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, accompanied by Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo and senior officials from both departments and specialised engineering teams, have conducted a joint oversight visit to Samancor Dikwena Chrome near Brits, following the structural failure of a sidewall at the mine’s tailings facility last Thursday.
The visit formed part of government’s response to the incident, which occurred on 13 August 2026.
READ | Government probes tailings storage facility failure at Samancor’s Dikwena mine
During the visit on Monday, the government delegation met with mine management, received a detailed briefing on the circumstances surrounding the incident and inspected the affected area to evaluate potential environmental impacts, infrastructure disruptions, and the progress of the multi-agency investigation.
Addressing the media at the site, Mantashe acknowledged the fortunate absence of fatalities, while sharply pivoting the focus toward systemic accountability and regulatory compliance.
“We are very lucky that there is no fatality. Let us start from there. Nobody is dead; there is a disaster, but there is no death. That we must accept. But managing slime dams cannot be treated as a water issue. It is a mining issue, inherently linked to the core mining operations and structural accountability,” Mantashe said.
Expanding on the government's collaborative regulatory stance, Deputy Minister Mahlobo underscored that tailings infrastructure must maintain absolute structural integrity across every phase of operation.
The Department of Water and Sanitation, alongside specialised dam safety engineering units, has deployed teams to conduct thorough water quality sampling, containment checks, and environmental risk assessments aimed at safeguarding surrounding communities and mitigate potential downstream impacts.
Government reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to the principle of Zero Harm, the protection of workers’ health and safety, environmental protection, and strict regulatory compliance across all mining and industrial operations.
Investigations into the exact technical and operational causes of the sidewall failure remain active and ongoing. – SAnews.gov.za
