Cradle to grave
Kumba takes health
care to the people
B
efore 2015, people from the communities around Postmasburg in the Northern
Cape travelled 30km or more — often on foot — to get primary health care. Thanks
to a major investment in the health care infrastructure by Kumba Iron Ore, Anglo
American’s iron ore business unit, mobile clinics now take health care to the communities. A
newly upgraded Postmasburg medical complex boasts a high-tech trauma care unit, which
accommodates and stabilises patients before they are moved to more advanced medical
facilities.
Bags to de-sludge
S
the existing ones to make additional space
available for waste. Traditional methods
of waste containment, which usually
require large amounts of space, stringent
environmental permits, and frequent dredging,
are normally unaffordable to municipalities,”
explains Johnny Oriokot, geotechnical
engineer at Fibertex SA. “A feasible solution
needed to be found to dispose of extracted
material through the desludging process,
which is not restricted by budget constraints
and the limited space available at existing
wastewater facilities.
“The use of geotextile dewatering bags
is recognised globally as the most efficient
and economical method to achieve the
required desludging process, to improve
the functionality and safety of wastewater
treatment works.”
Fibertex geobags, manufactured from
UV-stabilised woven polypropylene (PP)
geotextile materials, are incorporated in the
desludging process in wastewater treatment
— the process used to convert wastewater
into an effluent that can be returned to the
water cycle with minimal environmental
impact. Solid particles (sludge) are then
separated from the effluent and transported
to a designated safe disposal site or stored in
a tailings storage facility at the wastewater
treatment plant.
everal measures to remove sludge from
site have been implemented in various
projects around the world. One of these
involve using Fibertex geotextile bags (or
geobags). Geobags are used on desludging
wastewater projects and have some advantages
over conventional methods, which are often
unaffordable to authorities and contractors
with limited budgets.
The benefits of using geobags for
sludge removal include ease of operation,
efficient retention of solids, compliance
with environmental regulations, and cost
optimisation. A further advantage is that this
dewatering system is passive and does not
require constant monitoring and maintenance
of equipment.
The filtration properties of geotextiles
— which are effective in retaining the
fine-grained materials found in sewage
sludge while allowing the water to filter
through — make these materials suitable in
desludging wastewater ponds. The effluent
that passes through the woven fabric can then
be transferred to a designated safe disposal
site, given that it meets the regulations set
by the Department of Water Affairs (Policy
and Strategy for Groundwater Quality
Management in South Africa).
“When wastewater treatment ponds
reach their capacity, the options available
are to either build new facilities or to empty
These Fibertex geobags are filled with processed mine waste.
www.miningmirror.co.za
Strikes
and the
economy
A
ccording to research, the right to
strike is a delicate balance between
the power of firms and the rights
of employees and is considered a sign of a
healthy democracy.
Independent labour expert Suleyman
Alley says there are seven key causes
of labour unrest: health hazards in the
workplace; excessive working hours;
low wages; demand for leave with pay;
discrimination; inadequate working tools;
and aggressive behaviour of managers
towards employees.
“Strikes and labour unrest have marked
negative impacts on the employees
themselves, the employers and their
stakeholders, the government, consumers,
and the economy,” says Jacki Condon,
managing director of Apache Security
Services. “These actions create economic
uncertainty, especially as the global media
continues to share details, images, and
videos of violence, damage to property,
and ferocious clashes between strikers and
security,” Condon continues.
Strike action results in low productivity
and a reduction in profits. Labour law
expert Ivan Israelstam says that the
employer is likely to lose money due to
delayed service to clients or lost production
time. “The employees will lose their pay
due to the ‘no work, no pay’ principle. If the
strikers are dismissed, they will lose their
livelihoods altogether,” he says.
This year alone, Eskom, Prasa, various
manufacturing plants, Sasol, and the
South African Post Office, to name but a
few, have faced crippling strikes. Condon
argues that there are more immediate
consequences to consider than loss of
income. “As the socio-economic issues
continue to affect South Africans across
the board, tensions are constantly rising,”
states Condon. “Businesses must protect
themselves, their assets, business property,
and their non-striking employees from
violence and intimidation.”
Condon believes that this requires
the deft hand of well-trained and highly
qualified close-protection operatives. These
operatives provide not only protection,
but video evidence as well, ensuring those
responsible for damage can be held to
account. “The key is to create a strategic
partnership with a reliable security provider.
Plans must be put into place to protect
businesses against vandalism, physical
assault, property invasion, and intimidation
during labour unrest,” concludes Condon.
FEBRUARY 2019 MINING MIRROR [45]