September 2022
Dear Readers, this edition focuses mainly on Jagersfontein as well as the Bench Marks Foundation Annual Conference, organised under the theme: Mine Closure: the Burning Issue of our Time. The Conference will be a hybrid event and takes place on the 18 and 19 October at the Holiday Inn, Johannesburg Airport. All participants must register, including those attending online.
Jagersfontein has once again brought the focus on the management of tailings facilities. Did you know that there are about 30 000 tailings facilities worldwide? If you want to learn some more about this, listen to our recent podcast on tailings.
This September edition will also provide a brief celebration of Heritage Month. We try to make the case for recognition of our collective heritage of resistance, which helped to usher in a culture of human rights and democracy as contained in the living constitution. Keeping democracy and human rights alive is a daily struggle and it is one of the reasons why we remain active in the SAVE FREE TV Campaign, as we are convinced that communications rights are human rights. It is through communication rights that we access and connect with and to other rights. We organise everyday to live with these freedoms:freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom from want and freedom from racism, sexism, xenophobia and fear!. Yes, we can!
We are pleased to recall and share the writings Peter Abrahams, whose book Mine Boy (1946) talks of us. At the time of his death in 2017, aged 97, the New York TImes wrote that he was: “a South African writer whose journalism and novels explored, with sensitivity and passion the injustices of apartheid and the complexities of racial politics.” They continue by adding that Mine Boy is “often cited as the first African novel in English to draw international attention.”
Read, Enjoy and Pass it On
· OPINION ·
The Tailings Dam outburst reveals the gaping holes in the democratic and accountability infrastructure of our country. The Minister of Mines and Energy Gwede Mantashe blames what he considers as “the wrong judgement” in 2007 by the Free State High Court in the matter of De Beers v Ataqua Mining and the DMRE for tying their hands to regulate these tailings.
The case explored whether the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 deprived De Beers of the ownership of the minerals in its tailings dumps, and if the DMRE had the authority to grant prospecting or mining rights in tailings dumps created before 2002. For ease of closure, let us remind readers that these tailings were bought by Jagersfontein Developments, ultimately owned by Reinet Investments under the chairpersonship of Dr Johan Rupert.
The Minister may have some legal argument, but it did not exonerate the government in all its capacities to step in on the side of citizens. Human rights lawyer Richard Spoor entered the fray and pointed out that “Jagersfontein Developments bought the mine from De Beers for R1.00 and 14 cents, including VAT. Reinert immediately raised a bond on the mine property for R720 million.”
Spoor continued to comment on the consequences of this: “One quirk that makes the mine so valuable is that it’s not a mine. The owner mines the tailings dumps and a few years back the SCA ruled that that is not mining. This means that the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) and MPRDA do not apply. Nor does the Royalties Act which means they mine tax free.” Tax authorities, are you hearing this?
In such a policy vacuum, all the Minerals Council could come up with was to join the appeals for charity and food relief for the victims or the disaster.
The Minerals Council of South Africa argued that (28 September 2022) “longer-term relief measures are also underway. The Minerals Council launched the Jagersfontein Relief Fund for its members to collectively contribute R50 million towards immediate and longer-term assistance to residents affected by the events of 11 September when a tailings dam belonging to a non-Minerals Council member collapsed…”
What is needed is the mapping of tailings facilities in a clear and transparent manner, locally, nationally and internationally.
Whilst some are trying to persuade, nudge through carrot incentives to get corporations to join higher standards as the joint statement shows, we believe more has to be done. The joint statement by the ICMM, PRI and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in a statement on Jagersfontein said ”we are once again calling on wider investors, companies, communities and governments to join us in advocating for the Standard’s implementation by mining companies, whether public or private – across all existing and new sites, in all jurisdictions.
Simply put, anything less than every tailings facility on Earth being responsibly managed is just not good enough. While some companies, including all ICMM members, have committed to implementing the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), (GISTM) or equivalent standards, many other operators have yet to commit to doing so. We urge every mining company, everywhere to immediately embrace the Standard as a top priority.”
The ICMM and its national affiliate in South Africa can start by putting all tailings facilities on publicly available platforms but it is only a first step. In principle, we believe corporations who break the law must face the consequence without fear or favour.
The idea of building a Global Tailings Management Institute (see Resources) may present a way forward if civil society are genuinely involved and remain accountable to the constituent members.
By Hassen Lorgat
ARTICLES
Transitions
Bench Marks Foundation is in a period of transition. This follows the departure of the Executive Director John Capel, who had been the founding Executive Director of the organisation, and of Brown Motsau, who has been with the foundation since its very early days and will be leaving on the 30 September 2022. With his effervescent presence and smile, Brown was pivotal in the establishment of the key programmes of the organisation. He played an important part in the Monitoring School, the Africa Roundtable and represented the organisation in key formations and alliances like the Alternative Mining Indaba and the International Alliance on Mineral resources in Africa. Lately, he was part of the Research Team of the organisation.
In his own words, he is bringing to a close a “season” and moving into another. We wish him well in his endeavours and thank him for his sterling role in “the development of and institutional strength and memory” of the Bench Marks Foundation.
In the next period, the Bench Marks Foundation is looking at strengthening its research capacity, as well as a renewal process involving some internal restructuring at staff levels and also a renewal at board level. The board has been re-organising, renewing and modernising their governance capacities. These are truly times of change and growth.
We are looking forward to this challenge, a challenge for renewal which we hope will democratically strengthen of the Bench Marks Foundation for the new possibilities that lay ahead. This demands of us to ‘rethink solidarity’, embrace changes in the way we work and recommit to organising and strengthening the voice of the poor in all our discourses and activity.
By Moses Cloete
The aftermath of the Jagersfontein tailins dam failure in the Free Stateon 21 September 2022 that killed
at least one person and destroyed more than 160 homes (Photo: Gallo Images / Volksblad / Mlungisi Louw)
To prevent dam tailings disasters, heed the call from frontline workers and communities
[This opinion piece was published in the Daily Maverick and, in appreciation, readers can read it there in full or simply read a slightly edited version here.]
In 2022, 162 frontline communities, indigenous peoples, labour unions, environmental and human rights organisations, academics and scientists from 32 countries endorsed ‘Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management’. It lays out 17 guidelines to eliminate the riskiest tailings management practices and hold mining companies accountable. Most importantly, it prioritises community consent and oversight for all phases of tailings operations.
In the wake of the disastrous Jagersfontein tailings dam failure that killed at least one person, destroyed at least 164 homes and displaced almost 400 residents, all eyes have turned to South Africa to understand what happened, how this failure could have occurred and what lessons can be learnt to prevent future tragedies.
The essential takeaways from this disaster must be, first, that we cannot continue to allow mining companies to regulate themselves. The mining industry has a tragic history of unsafe tailings facilities around the globe.
Second, that independent experts and frontline workers and communities living adjacent to the mines must have the legal authority to speak and be heard on issues related to tailings safety, and the failure to heed their warnings must have serious consequences for power-holders.
Warnings ignored
In the case of Jagersfontein, various companies that owned the mine, including Jagersfontein Development (Pty) Ltd, ignored warnings from communities, workers and even regulators about the potential instability of their tailings dam.
Earthmoving machinery clears debris after the Jagersfontein tailings dam failure on 21 September 2022. (Photo: Gallo Images / Volksblad / Mlungisi Louw)
The Mayor of Kopanong municipality, Xolani Tseletsel, said he had been raising concerns about the stability of the dam for the past 11 to 12 years.
Community leaders claim their complaints around safety concerns over the years were met with bribes by mining company officials.
The municipality of Kopanong and residents are reportedly pursuing a class action lawsuit against the company in response to the failure.
Recently, night-shift workers at the mine claimed they had alerted management to a crack in the dam wall and management had ignored their warnings.
Local regulators had previously suspended operations at the site over concerns around water management, but allowed operations to resume a year later. The inconsistent and seemingly uncoordinated role of the regulators is a cause for concern and pain for the workers, mining communities and society at large.
The National Union of Mineworkers was quoted as saying that “the Jagersfontein tragedy evokes memories of the February 1994 Merriespruit tailings dam disaster, also in the Free State, in which 17 people were killed and 80 houses destroyed. On that occasion, excessive rainfall was blamed for the tailings dam failure”.
Legal loophole
The dam failure highlights an enormous loophole in South African mining law. Because the facility was reprocessing tailings for diamonds instead of extracting virgin ore, it was not classified as a mine. The classification of the site as a reprocessing facility meant the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy did not have regulatory oversight of the operations.
While this is an important issue to resolve, it is not a justification for the authorities to have ignored the voices of communities and the unions. When there are risks of loss of life, injury and potential loss to livelihoods, businesses and homes, governments have the moral and political right to intervene in the public interest.
In the wake of the failure, the mining industry, investors and others have isolated the company currently operating the mine, Jagersfontein Development (Pty) Ltd, as an unlisted outsider that didn’t comply with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). They have claimed this 2020 standard promotes safer tailings management practices that are needed to avoid failures.
Yet the Jagersfontien failure shows the substantial gaps in the GISTM. While it is not feasible to speculate whether the GISTM could have prevented the failure in the first place, what is clear is that the standard would have done little to protect and compensate communities for the worst of the impacts.
It does not include any regulations on the distance between mines and communities, and the community most affected, Charlesville, was mere metres below the toe of the tailings dam. The standard does not require communities to provide consent for operations or to be actively engaged in oversight of the mine, and at the Jagersfontein mine, residents who have been most impacted were routinely ignored and marginalised by the company.
Finally, while the standard does call for an emergency response plan that is developed with affected communities, it has no details about how indemnification and compensation should be organised after a failure. Communities around the Jagersfontien mine are now expected to begin a negotiation process with the company after having endured the trauma of surviving a tragedy.
The GISTM clearly does not go far enough to rein in dangerous practices. A 2021 exposé showed how mining companies intimidated, and at some points manipulated, the process to develop the GISTM, ultimately favouring the mining industry’s interests.
Safety proposals
Affected communities and civil society have already identified proposals that centre their needs and prioritise safety.
In 2022, 162 frontline communities, indigenous peoples, labour unions, environmental and human rights organisations, academics and scientists from 32 countries endorsed Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management. It lays out 17 guidelines to eliminate the riskiest tailings management practices and hold mining companies accountable. Most importantly, it prioritises community consent and oversight for all phases of tailings operations.
Effective tailings management is impossible without civil society oversight. Communities and workers must have a seat at the table where decisions are made, they must provide consent for decisions that would affect their lives and livelihoods, and their concerns must not be ignored.
Operating companies must make all information relevant to the safety and stability of tailings facilities publicly available and governments must make safety the primary consideration in tailings facilities and dam design, construction, operation, closure and post-closure, and those measures must be independently verified.
Hassen Lorgat works with Bench Marks Foundation and is the manager of media and advocacy. He is currently the convenor of the South African Tailings Working Group, a group of civil society activists working in the field of tailings.
Jan Morril is the Tailings Campaign Manager at Earthworks. Jan works with communities around the world directly affected by dangerous tailings storage facilities, including in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, South Africa and beyond. She seeks to elevate best practices in tailings storage on a local, regional and international level and is a co-author of Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management.
A VISIT TO JAGERSFONTEIN
This is what Britannica.com tells us about Jagersfontein:
Jagersfontein, town, southwestern Free State province, South Africa, southwest of Bloemfontein. The town is historically known as a diamond-mining centre. A 50-carat diamond found on a farm in the area in 1870 led to the establishment of the town in 1882 and the opening of a diamond pipe mine six years later. The second and eighth largest rough diamonds ever discovered in the world were taken from this mine—the Excelsior of 995 carats (in 1893) and the Reitz of 650 carats (in 1895; later cut into the Jubilee). The Jagersfontein mine closed during the Great Depression, reopened after World War II, but closed once again in 1970. Sheep are raised in the semi-arid area surrounding the town. Pop. (2001) 1,200.
Contrast this with the findings of the research team after the disaster broke. David van Wyk and Brown Motsau went to Jagersfontein to see and hear what had transpired. David van Wyk writes:
On Sunday 11 September, South Africa woke up to the news that the tailings dam at Jagersfontein mine broke. We immediately got in touch with the University of the Free State to see if we could share knowledge, resources and costs in order to engage with the impacted communities of Charlesville and Itumeleng.
We managed to get out to Jagersfontein on Thursday, 15 September, and went in and out of the impacted community until 18 September. We took photographs, did interviews with community members, engaged with the mayor’s office and took measurements of the width of the slurry wave, the distance between the destroyed houses and the tailings and observed and participated in community meetings of the Premier, the National Council of Provinces and the Mayor’s Office. We also identified key informants and did a reconnaissance of the mining operation.
The key informants identified by us could become potential Bench Marks Foundation community monitors. We tried in vain to engage with the mining company. The community also complained that the mining company did not make any attempt to engage with them, before or after the disaster. Community members and direct mining employees informed us that they frequently expressed their concerns about the safety of the dump, but that they were simply ignored. A pump station employee on duty the night when the tailings dam broke claimed that he warned his supervisors three times of the imminent collapse of the tailings. He was told not to worry and to resume working.
Bench Marks was the first and only national NGO present in Jagersfontein within days of the disaster. We informed the Rapport coverage of the disaster as well as spending three days on the ground with the ENCA Checkpoint team the following week.
The report is currently being peer reviewed and will be released during this year.
ASO to be tied to broad public consultation and registration for free STBs
30 September 2022
Today is the last day to register for the government-subsidized set top box to enable those with analogue television sets to access digital terrestrial television. This registration date was set by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) after the Constitutional Court judgement of 28 June 2022 which, in favour of eTV, the SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), ordered the Minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni to hold a public consultation process with industry stakeholders prior to deciding the analogue switch off (ASO) date for South Africa. As organisations that support public broadcasting, we are extremely anxious that today’s deadline was too tight coming just 12 weeks after the Constitutional Court judgement. We are concerned that insufficient eligible disadvantaged households will have been able to register considering issues such as loadshedding, relocation (and displacement) due to earlier floods, unemployment, existing socio-economic conditions, and the resultant poverty which makes online registrations expensive and difficult. We are also concerned that this will severely disadvantaged households who are eligible, and we will be reviewing the registrations process carefully to ensure that the public interest has not been undermined.
As per the Constitutional Court’s order, we are still waiting for an announcement of the public consultation process and a sense of when the ASO date might be. The Coalition would like to remind the Minister of her obligation to undertake a public consultation process prior to deciding on the ASO date and to engage with interested parties including the community television sector, the SABC and with civil society groupings such as SOS and MMA. The process must be a generous attempt to find an amicable advancement of digital migration that leaves no one behind, and has minimal deleterious effects on broadcaster’s markets and revenue (recognising that the partial ASO in Free State, Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces has already negatively impacted the SABC’s revenues).
We look forward to encouraging wide participation in the process. The digital migration process cannot result in South Africans having access to LESS information and content than was the case before the ASO. To date, the Minister has not demonstrated how the millions who rely on free to air analogue television for their news and information will not be left entirely uninformed given the current high costs of internet access and usage. SOS and MMA assure the public that these organisations will attempt to safeguard its rights of access to news and information, particularly in the run-up to the 2024 elections. The Minister must take notice of the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the ASO and specifically on the need to act lawfully and rationally when determining the final ASO date after consulting widely.
For more information, please contact: Uyanda Siyotula National Coordinator (SOS Coalition) +27606912462 Thandi Smith Head of Programmes (Media Monitoring Africa) +27734707306
THE MEET - UP
A meeting place to learn about organisations, networks, movements and people resisting injustices and whom we work with.
[2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE] MINE CLOSURE: THE BURNING ISSUE OF OUR TIMES
Mining closure conferences are a regular feature in some historic mining countries such as Australia, but have not yet surfaced here in any significant way. The Bench Marks Foundation intends to reverse this neglect and bring to focus mining closures which, as the theory goes, begin the day mining commences.
This area of work, mine closures, is thus critical for the people, the environment and wider societal benefit, especially in the time of climate change. It is a critical pillar in the mining cycle and the Bench Marks Foundation seeks to engage this process for many reasons; in particular:
- To provide context for a full and proper discussion on illegal mining and the related issues concerning the rights of artisanal mining as well as the failures of formal rights holders to comply with the law;
- To help us understand the legal, regulatory frameworks that govern mining closures and, particularly, the obligations to rehabilitate such closures; and
- To show that the neglect to regulate in favour of the environment, workers and the poor, – particularly those living in and around mining townships, shacks and towns – is an externalisation of costs, and thus a deprivation of basic human rights for these constituencies who have little or no voice in our current democratic dispensation. And have direct decision-making in operations in matters affecting them directly or indirectly.
To read the full concept note, click here.
PROGRAMME:
It is a hybrid event, in person at a hotel near the airport and via zoom. It is important that those interested register before attending.
18 October 2022
11.00 – 11.15 Opening and Welcome Bishop Jo Seoka
11.15 – 11.30 Presentation of Conference agenda and procedure
11.30 – 12.15 Address by Guest Keynote Speaker
12.15 – 12.45 The path traveled Covid and Beyond: Perspectives from Bench Marks Foundation Moses Cloete
Lunch
2.00 – 3.15 Bench Marks Foundation staff present their work and approaches to Conference
- Presentation by Research Team
- Presentation by Community Monitoring School
with commentaries about integrated working approach around the issues impacting on communities
- Media and Advocacy
3.15 – 5.30 Tea and Breaking into Working Groups:
- Challenges and Opportunities: Zama Zamas and Artisanal Mining
- Mine Closure and Post Closure Rehabilitation and Management
- Community perspectives – How to make danger zones in mining visible?
- Rethinking Regional Solidarity in the times of crisis in the mining sector and beyond
5.30 – 6.00 Day visitors may leave / Break
6.00 – 7.00 Evening Programme
2022 Graduation Ceremony: monitors and facilitators
Poetry and song by facilitators of the community monitoring school
7.00 – 8.00 Dinner
19 October 2022
9.00 – 9.15 Review of Day
9.15 – 9.45 Report back from the Working Groups
9.45 – 10.30 Q&A and discussion
10.30 – 11.00 Tea
11.00 – 12.30 Panel discussion with major stakeholders around mine closures. What has not been done and what is to be done?
Representatives of the DMRE, parliament, Minerals Council, and Civil society have been invited to attend
12.30 – 1.15 Closing address by Guest Speaker: Business and Human Rights, are they compatible or mutually exclusive?
1.15 – 1.30 Closing remarks by MC and the chairperson of the Board of the Bench Marks Foundation Board
1.30 Lunch and Departure
USEFUL RESOURCES
📢 A GLOBAL TAILINGS MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS MUST GET THEMSELVES READY FOR WHAT IS BEING PLANNED: A GLOBAL TAILINGS MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE. This media release was dispatched last year 1 October 2021 but it has all the details that are currently available.
– The UN Environment Programme, the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds announced today a multi-stakeholder advisory panel to support the foundation of the Global Tailings Management Institute. The international advisory panel comprising leading figures in tailings management, civil society, industry, finance and academia will guide the development of the Institute, working alongside UNEP.
The Institute will support the adoption of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (2020), oversee adherence to and independent verification of the adoption of the Standard. The Institute is also intended to become a knowledge hub for tailings management. The founders of the Institute are also considering how it may host the global tailings portal which will align with the new disclosure requirements of the Standard. Critical to the success of the Institute will be the confidence of all stakeholder groups that are impacted by tailings. To this end, the advisory panel comprises a broad membership, including NGOs, Unions, academia, affected communities, heads of other international standard bodies, finance, insurance, legal, regulatory, and representatives from both small and large mining companies. Broader consultation and engagement on the planned Institute will take place in Q4 2021 and Q1 2022. A series of engagements will be scheduled to provide all stakeholders, who have an interest in how the Institute will function, the opportunity to provide comments.
The Advisory Panel will be supported in its work by an independent consultant, based in UNEP, working on behalf of the partners. David Cooling, a former senior tailings manager at ALCOA, has been charged with facilitating the process leading to the formation of the Institute.
Members of the Advisory Panel are: Jan Morrill Earthworks, Victoria (Vicky) Corpuz Tebtebba Foundation, Peter Kindt ING, Günter Becker Munich Re, Rebecca Campbell White & Case, Glen Mpufane IndustriALL – interim member, Andressa Lanchotti State Prosecutor, Prof Andy Fourie University of WA, Antonia Mihaylova IUCN, Paul Bateman International Cyanide Management Institute, Tamara Johndrow Freeport, Johan Boshoff Gold Fields, Prof. Elaine Baker University of Sydney/GRID Arendal.
Discussions are continuing with other potential members of the Panel.
Commenting on the formation of the Panel, Adam Matthews, Chief Responsible Investment Officer of the Church of England Pensions Board and PRI Co-Convenor of the Tailings Standard said: “The formation of a Global Tailings Management Institute is a vital piece of the architecture that needs to be put in place to bring the Global Tailing Standard to life. In order for the Institute to carry the confidence of many stakeholders, it is essential we are informed by a wide range of perspectives and insights. We are grateful to those that have been willing to offer their time and wisdom to support this important endeavor.”
Ligia Noronha, Head of UNEP New York Office, said: “UNEP is delighted to see this multi-stakeholder panel of experts that will ensure that we have a better and stronger Institute as a result. We recognise the Institute needs to be practical to support wide adoption of the Global Tailings Standard. We also recognise that communities and those most impacted by tailings or that live with tailings facilities in their communities need to have confidence in the work of the Institute. The task of the Advisory Panel will be to inform our decision making and ensure we progress towards our ambition of zero harm to people and the environment from tailings facilities.”
John Howchin, Secretary-General of the Council on Ethics of the Swedish AP Funds and PRI Co-Convenor of the Global Tailings Standard said: “Tailings remain a clear and present risk in many parts of the world and whilst good practice exists, we need to see this Standard across all operations with transparency and independent verification that it is being applied.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
Background:
Earlier this year, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Co-Convenors of the Global Tailings Review, the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds, announced a partnership to create an independent, multistakeholder institute to support the implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management.
This announcement follows:
– the publication of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management in 2020, which was the result of an 18-month multistakeholder process, led by an independent Chair (Dr. Bruno Oberle)
– a series of initiatives led by investors (the Investor Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative) encouraging improved disclosure on tailings storage facilities (see tailing.grida.no)
– the recognition of the importance of the establishment of an independent entity to oversee, support and provide assurance on the implementation of the Standard during the consultations on UNEA resolution 4/19 on Mineral Resource Governance.
About the Principles for Responsible Investment
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of ESG factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long-term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate, and ultimately, of the environment and society as a whole. The PRI is being represented in this process by John Howchin of the Swedish Council of Ethics and Adam Matthews of the Church of England Pensions Board.
About the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
For more information, please contact:
Keisha Rukikaire, Head of News & Media, UNEP
📖 HERITAGE MONTH: Focus on PETER ABRAHAM’s book MINE BOY
Peter Henry Abrahams Deras, was born March 3, 1919, in Vrededorp, and died January 18, 2017, Kingston, Jamaica.
Abrahams left South Africa in 1939 and moved to England. Amongst the various jobs he did he was an editor for The Daily Worker, a communist newspaper. He was also active in the Pan-African movement and even though he went into “exile” his writings were largely centred on his early life in South Africa.
In addition to MINE BOY, he wrote: The Path of Thunder (1948), Wild Conquest (1950) and A Night of Their Own (1965), A Wreath for Udomo (1956; new ed. 1971), This Island Now (1966; new ed. 1971), The View from Coyaba (1985), Tell Freedom: Memories of Africa (1954; new ed. 1970) and The Coyaba Chronicles: Reflections on the Black Experience in the 20th Century (2000).
PODCAST
In the June 2022 Bulletin, we shared with you the launch of the Tailings Report as well as a conversation on Tailings Dams. We thought a refresher was in order.
🎙MINE WASTE LEAVES TOXIC LEGACIES IN SOUTH AFRICA – Successful International Launch of Tailings Report
The Mine Tailings Working Group of South Africa, a partnership of civil society groups including the Bench Marks Foundation, Federation for Sustainable Environment (FSE), IANRA concluded a successful workshop on tailings and the launch of the publication of Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailing Management, coordinated and produced by Earthworks, Mining Watch Canada and London Mining Network.The full webinar and launch can be found HERE.
To facilitate understanding of the importance of this report, please we have produced a PODCAST and WEBCAST, which contains an interview – conversation between Hassen Lorgat (Bench Marks Foundation) and Jan Morrill (Tailings Manager, Earthworks).
Moses Cloete serves as the editor at large of this edition. Unless otherwise indicated the writing and presentation of the Bulletin is by Hassen Lorgat. Marta Garrich helped with additional editing and layout of the newsletter. Simo Gumede is responsible for the members and partners database management.