Johannesburg - Billionaire Johann Rupert has been accused of intimidating and bribing residents and employees after they raised concerns regarding the dam wall which collapsed at Jagersfontein Development.
At least four people were killed and more than 70 others injured following the collapse of the dam last Sunday, leaving scores of people homeless.
Jagersfontein Development employees and residents said Rupert could have stabilised the dam long before it collapsed, but opted to do nothing. Instead, he allegedly bribed community leaders who raised concerns regarding the potential danger to the community. They said the dam had been leaking for years.
In April 2022, Rupert’s Reinet Investments sold Jagersfontein assets to Stargems Holdings, a global diamond cutting, and polishing company. Community leader Lefa Shale said they had been warning the company since 2019, but instead of the mine stabilising the dam, the then owner (Rupert) allegedly offered bribes to some of the community leaders.
“The bribery is not an allegation, it is a fact. I am a community leader and I know about some of the leaders who were bribed. The community would raise these concerns and ask leaders to organise a meeting with Rupert.
“But these leaders would go on their own and tell Rupert what the community is planning. I know that he has been giving these leaders envelopes,” said Shale.
Resident Thandi Molefe indicated they had been fighting against the mine to fix the dam and improve their living conditions, but the fights yielded no results because some leaders were offered bribery.
“We have been protesting and fighting but some leaders were bribed. Today my furniture has been destroyed, while some people lost their homes and cars. Some family members lost their loved ones, all because of bribery.”
The 50-year-old said there were no developments in the area despite the existence of the mine. She said the community was also still experiencing water shortages.
“In this area, we can go for a week or two without water. But the mine has never experienced a shortage of water,” Molefe said. “They prefer to employ people from outside than prioritising the community.”
Attempts to reach Rupert for comments drew a blank after he was contacted. The response was: “This is not Mr Rupert’s phone anymore… so, stop involving him please.”
The responder then referred Sunday Independent to an article by miningmx which stated: “Jagersfontein mine owner Stargems says tailings facility was ‘safe and secure’.
“According to a report by Bloomberg News, Johann Rupert’s Reinet Investments sold its stake in the Jagersfontein diamond mine and tailings facilities to Stargems Group, a Dubai-based diamond trading company.”
Reinet did not respond to questions when reached.
The allegations were echoed by two Jagersfontein Development employees who worked as security officers at the mine. Both employees spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation.
“I know that some community leaders were bribed, and others are his (Rupert) informants. I am one of the employees who reported the issue to the community. Because we were not safe,” said the first employee.
“We are even forced to work under extreme conditions. We are expected to work like slaves, and they give us peanuts. You will be shocked if I show you how much I earn. I earn R6 000 after the overtime.”
The other employee said: “We have been complaining about the dam. And Johann knew about this, because at some point the operations were stopped. When the community raised concerns regarding their safety he bribe some people to calm them down. He always gives them a brown envelope, and that’s how he operates.”
When Sunday Independent arrived at the area this week, several houses close to the mining dam were damaged, and more than 10 houses and cars had been swept away. This resulted in scores of people being displaced, and hundreds of animals left for dead.
The now-dormant mine was once owned by diamond giant De Beers. De Beers bought the mine in 1947 and operations continued until 1971 when the decision was taken to cease operations.
Reinet Investment acquired Jagersfontein from De Beers in late 2010 for an undisclosed amount. The consortium included BEE mining company Superkolong, Sonop Diamond Mining, a private company, and Reinet Investment.
The latter is a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle formed following the restructuring of the Rupert family’s stakes in Remgro, British American Tobacco, and Richemont in 2008.
De Beers spokesperson Jackie Mapiloko said the company sold the mine in 2010, because it was no longer deemed to be the right fit for the De Beers mining portfolio.
“The decision was taken to sell the mine, with a focus on delivering sustainable benefit to the Jagersfontein community. As such, the proposed transaction required participation by the community, not only with employment opportunities and community initiatives, but also through equity ownership,” Mapiloko said.
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) spokesperson Nathi Shabangu said the company that currently owned the mine should take full responsibility for the damages caused.
“All we can say is that whoever currently is a holder of that property should (take) bigger responsibility for what happened. As to who, you will find out and speak to the three companies,” he said.
Shabangu said it was difficult to find out who exactly owned the mine because in 2007 the Free State High Court ruled that the provisions of the DMRE did not apply at that mine. He said, as a result, the department did not have jurisdiction.
Stargems said it had forwarded our query to the PR company, Meropa Communications, to assist with the questions. The company confirmed that it would offer R20 million to assist the community.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has called for a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the cause of the incident, and to determine whether there was any compliance with the DMRE for guidelines for the compilation of a mandatory code of practice on mine residue deposit.
The union said those found to have been responsible should be prosecuted.
“NUM’s national executive committee discussed and analysed the Jagersfontein tailing dam disaster and characterised it as a crisis of capitalist accumulation, the logic of putting profits before the people,” general secretary William Mabapa said.
“NUM, therefore, condemns such logic as inhuman, unjust, and barbaric. Thus we argued that the mine bosses were negligent and reckless and thus they must take full responsibility for the total damage caused by the tailing dam disaster. Importantly, mine bosses were made aware of the threat the tailing dam posed on the workers, the community, and the environment,” he said.
The sludge left residents such as Patricia Mothei stranded and confused. Her house was destroyed and all her contents were swept away. “Everything has gone. Right now I don’t know what to do. And we have been protesting that the owner should fix the dam.
“It is painful that I have lost everything due to something that we have been warning the mine about,” said the 36-year-old.
Another resident, John Phathakalle, lamented about his furniture being destroyed. “We have been complaining about this dam and they refused to listen to us. Today I lost my furniture that was still new. I don’t how I am going to buy these things again because I am unemployed.
“I am not even sure if this mine will be able to help us get our homes and furniture back, because it has been doing nothing to help this community. There are lots of people who are not working while we have a mine in this area,” he said.