MIDVAAL. – Midvaal Local Municipality (MLM) MMC for Development and Planning, Mokete Motsamai, last week conducted a site visit at the Glen Douglas Dolomite Mine.

The objective behind the site visit was to learn more about dolomite and how it affects residents living in the surrounding areas.

Motsamai says: “Development on dolomitic land requires special attention, the reason for the site visit is to explore the technical aspects of dolomite and the possible impact it could have on development, should legislative requirements not be adhered to.”

Motsamai said that since the land surrounding the mine was dolomitic, it was important for him to learn and research more about this type of land and its implications.

“This will enable me to better engage the community when coming to arising questions with regards to the topic.” Motsamai added that this kind of information would help the municipality better plan for any events that may occur in the future.

Chief Building and Land Use Officer, Eugene Van Der Merwe, stated that the municipality had requested that residents wanting to do expansions or renovations on their properties conduct dolomite studies before doing any work on the premises.

“This is an added financial cost which a property owner has to take responsibility for and it often makes the residents unhappy.”

Van Der Merwe emphasised that the only way to do things is through the guidelines that have been set in place to ensure that both the municipality and the property owners are on the safe side.

“We are very fortunate that there have not been any incidents of sink holes. Therefore, we are doing studies and research in order to prevent such things from happening.”

Van Der Merwe said that once all the research had been conducted, the Municipality would then come up with a bylaw addressing dolomitic land in Midvaal.