The Citizen reports that according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the acid mine water crisis in Gauteng will not be resolved because the government lacks the political will to deal with what has become a health hazard.
In a statement on Monday, the federation threatened to take the government and the companies responsible for the contamination to court if they did not address the issue, which it described as a “ticking time bomb”. Cosatu also indicated that it planned to hold protests and occupy government and company offices. Cosatu’s parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks accused the departments of mineral resources, water and sanitation and environmental affairs of not having coherent plans in their budget votes announced last week to deal with the deepening crisis. He warned the three departments to apply the law. The union federation noted that mining houses had long been polluting water supplies. According to Cosatu, the problem affected mining towns in other provinces too. Parks pointed out that the department of mineral resources has not shown any intention to hold the mining houses to account, to stop the pollution by withdrawing the offenders’ mineral rights or to prosecute them.
- Read the full original of Eric Naki’s report on the above at The Citizen
- Read Cosatu’s press statement on this matter at Cosatu News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page