WATCH: When a mine moves out, poverty and despair move in
Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mine went into liquidation four years ago, now village residents are left in extreme poverty with no help on the horizon
"When I arrived at the gate‚ it was locked. My supervisor told me I must sit at home because the mine is going to be liquidated and they will tell us what will happen next‚ but since then‚ we have just been sitting at home." These are the words of Obakeng Cecilia Nkomo‚ a former employee of the Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mine near Carletonville in Gauteng‚ which ceased operations four years ago. She was interviewed late last year‚ for research commissioned by the International Federation for Human Rights and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR). A report on their findings and recommendations was released on Friday. Today‚ the village of some 6‚000 people exists on the edge of the defunct mine — in extreme poverty. "We are just living in Blyvoor‚ there are no jobs here. I’ve tried to get a job but I am told that I am too old‚" said resident Elizabeth Magrietha Jansen. For more than seven decades‚ the mine operated as one of the world’s largest and most profitable mining concerns. A village grew ...
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