BRITS - Authorities say they have contained the slime spill at Dikwena Chrome Mine in Brits, North West.
Ministers from the Water and Sanitation and Mineral Resources departments visited the mine to assess the damage.
The visit follows last week’s tailings dam collapse.
Limpopo-Olifants Catchment Management Agency (LOCMA) and the Department of Water and Sanitation were notified of a dam breach incident which occurred around 17:30 on Thursday, 13 August 2026.
READ | SA's water crisis | Department committed to reducing service backlogs
Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo said the priority now is rehabilitation.
"Rehabilitation must happen that's why the mine under the leadership of the minister where mines report to they have committed to take full responsibility which is our expectation then they will be able to know what the cause implications are.
Meanwhile, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has blamed negligence for the tailings dam disaster.
According to the statement issued by Water and Sanitation, "the slimes were prevented from flowing towards the R566 provincial road by a railway line embankment and some berms in the adjacent Eland Mine".
READ | SA's corruption emergency | SIU Water and Sanitation Department maladministration
The department confirmed that there were no casualties resulting from the tailings dam failure; however, there was some damage to the mine’s infrastructure, the railway line, Eskom’s power lines, and pollution of an unnamed tributary.
To date, water samples have been collected from the affected watercourse, with laboratory results still pending.