After years of warnings, petitions and repeated drownings, an 11-year campaign to secure Mangaung's notorious Heidedal quarry has finally reached the courts, with the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality seeking an order compelling the private owner to fence off the hazardous site.
Quarry safety activist Gregory Verner, who has been campaigning for the quarry to be secured since 2015, welcomed the municipality's legal action but said authorities should have acted years ago.
The municipality has obtained a provisional court order requiring the owner to show cause by 13 August 2026 why the interim order should not be made final. If confirmed, the order will prohibit the owner from selling or disposing of the property until matters relating to fatalities at the quarry have been resolved. It will also compel the owner to fence and secure the site in accordance with the court's directives.
The legal action follows years of complaints about the abandoned quarry and comes after a parliamentary oversight visit in November 2025 exposed serious safety concerns. Parliament found that the quarry remains an extreme public hazard, with water reaching depths of about 50 metres, steep embankments and submerged mining debris posing significant risks to anyone entering the site.
The oversight report also highlighted conflicting figures on the number of people who have lost their lives at the quarry.
According to SAPS spokesperson Warrant Officer Morne Koch, police recorded 15 drowning incidents between June 2001 and October 2025, resulting in 16 fatalities, including confirmed drownings and suspected suicides registered as inquests.
However, residents told parliamentary committees that as many as 51 people may have died at the quarry between the late 1970s and 2025.
The committees said the conflicting figures suggested the true death toll remains unknown, raising concerns over possible underreporting and inadequate investigations.
Verner said his campaign intensified following the drowning of 16-year-old Justin Jacobs in 2016. During Parliament's oversight visit in November last year, Justin's mother, Maggie Jacobs, told lawmakers that returning to the quarry felt like reliving the day she buried her son.
Parliamentary records indicate the quarry was previously operated by Coronation Brick and Tile, now Corobrik, and was never properly fenced or rehabilitated after mining operations ceased. Lawmakers questioned whether rehabilitation obligations had been fulfilled and whether the mine's closure complied with environmental requirements in force at the time.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources told Parliament that an application for a closure certificate had been submitted in January 2004, before the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act came into effect later that year, meaning the closure process was dealt with under the Minerals Act of 1991.
Despite this, the issue of rehabilitation remains disputed. Parliamentary committees noted contradictions between departmental records indicating rehabilitation had been completed and the quarry's current condition, which remains visibly dangerous and unsecured.
The South African Human Rights Commission also informed Parliament that it received a complaint about the quarry on 6 August 2021, raising concerns over child drownings and other public safety risks.
The Commission investigated whether mine closure obligations had been met and requested documents relating to environmental assessments and rehabilitation. However, parliamentary committees criticised what they described as the slow pace of the investigation, noting that it remained incomplete more than four years later.
The Department of Water and Sanitation similarly acknowledged delays in taking action. Water-quality tests conducted in 2016 detected elevated electrical conductivity and sodium absorption levels, while concerns were also raised about possible contamination, illegal dumping and wastewater entering the quarry.
The department told Parliament that it only issued a notice of intention to direct the owner to take corrective action in November 2025 following parliamentary intervention.
The quarry's depth continues to hamper search-and-rescue operations. SAPS Search and Rescue divers told Parliament that the water is about 50 metres deep and contains submerged mining debris, making recovery operations particularly dangerous.
"We have participated in approximately 15 reported drowning cases at the quarry," Koch said.
The parliamentary report further noted that diving regulations limit rescue operations because of the quarry's depth and the absence of a suitable dive chamber within the Free State or within a two-hour travelling radius.
For Verner, the court action marks the culmination of years of lobbying, petitions and attempts to compel authorities to act. He said he opened a criminal case in 2016 but received no meaningful response.
He later petitioned Parliament, leading to the joint committee oversight visit to the quarry on 19 November 2025, where police, government officials and community members presented evidence of the ongoing dangers.
Following the visit, Parliament recommended an urgent interdict preventing the sale of the property, the establishment of an interdepartmental task team, immediate measures to secure the quarry, and a hydrogeological study to assess contamination risks, overflow hazards and long-term rehabilitation options.
Despite welcoming the municipality's intervention, Verner fears the legal process could drag on.
"My only concern is that I don't know how long this legal battle will take. Summer is coming, and we know legal matters can take years to resolve. Meanwhile, the quarry remains unfenced," he said.
Nevertheless, he praised the municipality's decision to approach the courts.
"I personally welcome it, and I thank the mayor for taking that decisive and bold step, although it happened 25 years too late," he said.
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality City Manager Sello More said the municipality had repeatedly attempted to compel the owner to secure the property.
"We previously issued compliance notices to the property owner under the municipality's Unsightly and Neglected Buildings and Premises By-laws, requiring remedial action to address the hazardous condition of the property," More said.
He said the owner failed to comply, leaving the municipality with no option but to seek legal intervention.
"The evidence before the court demonstrates the urgent need for measures to protect human life. We will continue taking all lawful steps necessary to address the danger," More said.
For Verner and the families who have lost loved ones, however, the priority remains preventing another tragedy.
The property owner has until 13 August 2026 to convince the court why the provisional order should not be made final.
