The silence following the Samancor’s Dikwena Chrome spill, outside Brits, Northwest Province, South Africa, is a failure of accountability.
Guest author: Hassen Lorgat, CSOs Tailings Working Group
Just days before the commemoration of the tragic anniversary of Marikana — where 34 mineworkers lost their lives at the hands of the state — South Africa has been struck by another industrial disaster. On the evening of August 13, 2026, the Samancor Dikwena Chrome Tailings Facility near Brits in North West Province failed. Preliminary reports suggest a structural breach sent a slurry of mud-like material flowing across an access road near Eland Mine’s Maroelabult shaft.
The irony of this timing is devastating. On August 16, 2012, this nation mourned the loss of life due to state violence. Today, we are forced to question whether we have learned anything about protecting life in the intervening 14 years. This latest incident also arrives just a month before the anniversary of the Jagersfontein tailings disaster (September 11, 2022), which resulted in five deaths, the destruction of close to 160 homes, and the loss of domestic animals, including more than 850 farm animals and livestock.
These are not isolated events; they are a systemic failure of oversight.
To date, Samancor Chrome has offered little quality information. While management via social media messages claims to have launched a preliminary investigation, their websites remain devoid of official statements. In the vacuum created by their silence, social media has filled the void with rumour and fear.
Social media videos reveal the devastation of the failure.
This silence is not merely a public relations misstep; it is a violation of their own stated values. Samancor Chrome boasts of a DNA built on “Zero Harm” and “Caring for People.” Yet, when lives and communities are at risk, a lack of communication is the antithesis of care. They profess “Integrity” and “Accountability,” urging employees to “always do the right thing.” Silence in the face of a potential environmental and humanitarian crisis is the opposite of that commitment. If the company truly values “Collaboration,” it must treat affected communities, regulators, and employees as stakeholders to be informed, not threats to be managed.
However, our frustration cannot rest solely on the mine owners. The government regulators must step up. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Department of Mineral Resources and Petroleum (DMRP) have a constitutional obligation to protect the environment and the people. Where are they?
Under Chapter 12 of the National Water Act of 1998, tailings facilities meeting safety risk criteria (such as wall height and storage capacity) must be registered and managed under strict engineering standards. The last updated dams register (July 2025) does not include this tailings facility as a registered facility, which must be remedied.
We, as the Civil Society Tailings Working Group, demand urgent action:
- Immediate Scene Management: Secure the site to prevent further harm to communities and first responders.
- Independent Investigation: Establish a public, independent inquiry into the structural integrity of the Dikwena facility, with a clear timeline for reporting.
- Investigate now or the soonest possible: Release the latest safety audits and dam stability records for this facility to be made public.
- The Samancor group, remedy their failure to register their tailings facility as demanded by law.
Tailings disasters are a certainty, not a possibility. It is not a question of if they will happen, but when. Over the last few months, we have seen the warning signs globally. In Zambia (Chambishi, March 2025), a breach poisoned the drinking water of 500,000 people. In the DRC and Indonesia, similar failures have destroyed aquatic life and urban areas. These events prove that climate change (bringing extreme rainfall) and aging infrastructure are a deadly combination.
We cannot continue to treat these disasters as isolated incidents as we have demanded: Safety First, a set of 17 guidelines endorsed by 164 scientists, frontline community groups, Tribal governments, and civil society organizations from 32 countries, calls for better engineering and conscious public policy and people’s involvement.
South Africa has a history of mining tragedies that have defined our national consciousness. The victims of Marikana were killed by bullets; the victims of Dikwena may yet be killed by mud, heavy metals, and the bureaucratic silence that follows.
We have learnt from Brumadinho to Jagersfontein that early leadership when a disaster happens saves lives and provides a clearer analysis of the causes of the disaster as we search for remedies. These remedies must include the people most likely to be impacted by such disasters.
The time has come for the government, Samancor Chrome CEO Desmond McManus, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, and the Department of Water and Sanitation to step up. They must act. The people of Brits deserve more—they need support, solace, and the truth.