JOHANNESBURG – The Department of Water Affairs has laid criminal charges against the mine managed by relatives of former president Nelson Mandela and President Jacob Zuma for pumping mine water into a protected wetland.

"They are pumping out 180 megalitres through their reactor per day without treating it and this gets dumped into the river," charged the department's water quality director Marius Keet.

The water in the internationally protected Blesbokspruit had low pH levels, which meant it was acidic, and contained high levels of iron and suspended particles, he said.

The charges against Aurora Empowerment Systems included contravening its water licence agreement, failure to adhere to a departmental directive, and failure to treat excess water before dumping it into the wetland, said Keet.

Aurora is a black empowerment group that took control of the Grootvlei mine in Springs, on the East Rand, after the previous owner Pamodzi was liquidated. Mandela's grandson Zondwa Mandela and Zuma's nephew Khulubuse Zuma are directors of the company.

Keet said the directors of mining companies which contravened their licence agreement could be held directly responsible. Any director found guilty could face a five-year jail term or a R1-million fine.

At this stage, however, the charges had been brought against Aurora's management and not the directors themselves.

"We don't want to pre-empt things at the moment," he said on whether the directors would be charged.

Beeld newspaper reported on Wednesday the mine started treating its water on Monday.

Keet said the department did inspections on a regular basis.

"For them to treat their water for one or two days is not good enough. They have to do it permanently," he said.

Keet said the department had taken all the necessary steps before laying criminal charges. He could not say what direction the case would take.

"We will have to wait and see what the National Prosecuting Authority decides on," he said.
Keet said the mine's regular changes in ownership had a huge affect on the environment.

"People want to mine gold, and water becomes a hassle. They don't understand the full picture."

Aurora director Thulani Ngubane said the company had not received any formal notification of the charges.

"It is all speculation. We are only reading it in the newspapers ourselves," he said.

He said the company, which took control of the mine in October last year, sat with the problem of pumping all the water from long defunct mines in the East Rand basin, as it was the only operating mine still in existence.

"If we didn't pump water, the whole [of] Springs would be under water already," he said.

Ngubane said the mine had appointed a sub-contractor to treat the water, but that Aurora was ultimately responsible.

He said more was being expected of Aurora than of the previous owners.

"It is only because we are a young black company that we are being prosecuted," he said.

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