Minister Mantashe and Deputy Minister Mahlobo conduct onsite inspection following tailings facility incident at Samancor Dikwena chrome in Brits
The Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Mr Gwede Mantashe, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mr David Mahlobo, along with senior officials from both departments and specialised engineering units, conducted an official joint oversight visit to Samancor Dikwena Chrome in the Brits area today, Monday, 17 August 2026, following the structural failure of a sidewall at the mine’s tailings facility that occurred on Thursday last week, 13 August 2026.
During the visit, the leadership met with mine management, received a detailed briefing on the operational dynamics surrounding the event, and inspected the affected area to evaluate environmental impacts, infrastructure disruptions, and the ongoing multi-agency investigation.
Addressing media representatives onsite, Minister 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’s 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,” said the Minister.
Expanding on the government's collaborative regulatory stance, Deputy Minister David 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 to safeguard surrounding communities and mitigate downstream impacts.
Government reiterates its unwavering commitment to the principle of Zero Harm, worker health and safety, environmental protection, and strict regulatory enforcement across all mining and industrial operations. Investigations into the exact technical and operational causes of the sidewall failure remain active and ongoing.
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