Rachel Adatia and Pieter van Eeden couldn’t believe their eyes: the public park they had encountered was flooded with toxic acid mine drainage (AMD) and there wasn’t a warning sign in sight.

“That a public park that is supposed to be there for the enjoyment of the community, is just about drowned with AMD is beyond words,” said Van Eeden, an ecologist, of the crisis at Mitchell’s Park in Davidsonville, west of Joburg.

“Worse than that is that City Parks just cuts the lawn over and through the AMD. What happened to these people’s constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to their health?”

AMD is a toxic cocktail of heavy metals and radioactive water that seeps from abandoned gold mines.

Last week, Van Eeden and Adatia, a volunteer at Earthlife Africa Joburg, were visiting communities in Roodepoort and Witpoortjie affected by dust from slimes dams and AMD when they came upon the park.

“The water appears to come from a stream of AMD flowing from the base of a mine dump, at the back of houses near the park,” explained Adatia.

“The AMD has been collecting in pools in the park since the end of last year,” she said.

As an immediate first step, she suggested the park be cordoned off immediately and warning signs be erected explaining the potential danger of the water.

“Residents should be informed so they can take the necessary precautions such as not letting children and pets use the park and to keep off the mine dump.

“As the stream of water flowing off the dump is clear, with red/orange iron oxide deposited in its sediment some people may be unaware of the potential danger of the water.”

It has now emerged that in 2006, the Pretoria High Court ordered the City of Joburg to “abate the nuisance caused to the applicants and residents of Davidsonville by dust and water emanating” from the dams at the neighbouring Princess gold mine dump complex.

The court ordered the Department of Mineral Resources and its regional manager to put measures in place within two weeks to reduce dust and control water pollution from the Princess Dump and ordered that it be entirely rehabilitated within two years.

But nothing has been done. “The city council has known (that) this is a problem for a long time but nothing has been done,” said Adatia. “Now it’s reached a crisis point with water flooding out of the park.

“On the other side of the road from the park is a wetland that used to be an old slimes dam and is heavily contaminated. It’s directly opposite the Langeni primary school. Children take shortcuts through the park,” she said.

A local resident, who did not want to be named, said residents knew little about the dangers of AMD.

“Our kids can’t play there safely anymore. But I see kids playing in the park all the time. This is not the way a park should look.”

Van Eeden asked what the City and the Department of Water Affairs intended doing to curb and contain the flow in the pond and educate the community about the potential risks.

Janet Love, who chairs the SA Human Rights Commission’s Section 5 Committee on AMD, has also written to the City seeking immediate intervention.

Nkosinathi Nkabinde, a spokesman for the City of Joburg, said the city was working with other members of a task team including the Klip River Forum and the departments of water affairs and mineral resources, to find a “solution to the challenge. The city had also undertaken a study to establish short term mitigation measures”.

Sputnik Ratau, the spokesman for the Department of Water Affairs, said he had not heard about the park but promised that officials would assess the site early next week.

Source: IOL.co.za