The Jagersfontein Mine dam collapse findings have revealed engineering failures. Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo has released a report of the independent investigation into the mine dam disaster to community members and stakeholders.

Experts from the University of Pretoria and Wits say the southern wall was built on weak, old tailings in the Free State town.

The slope was also far too steep, and the dam was on unstable ground.

Satellite images show the wall had been shifting for years before it finally gave way on the 11th of September 2022, unleashing over five million cubic metres of sludge.

Mahlobo says, “When the construction was being done, there was no presence of registered engineers to supervise their work, and then the structure was created on an existing structure that was there. In other words, the structural integrity of the foundation was not strong. And then what made the matters worse, apart from the structural integrity, was the question that they started pouring in some of their findings that were there, getting the deposit.”

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