Johannesburg - Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic has identified major human rights violations caused by the environmental impact of gold mining in South Africa.
The 113-page report, titled The Cost of Gold: Environmental Health, and Human Rights Consequences of Gold Mining in South Africa’s West and Central Rand, documents the threats posed by water, air, and soil pollution from gold mining in Johannesburg’s West and Central Rand.
The report found that acid mine drainage had contaminated water bodies that residents use to irrigate crops, water livestock, wash clothes, and for swimming water.
It also identified that dust from mine waste dumps had blanketed communities.
The major contention of the report was that government had allowed homes to be built near, and sometimes on, those toxic and radioactive dumps.
It also said government’s slow response to the acid mine drainage crisis had delayed efforts to deal with the problem and allowed harm to continue.
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