She bends down and picks up, with her blood- red nails, what
looks like a clump of soil. Mariette Liefferink, chief executive of the
Federation for a Sustainable Environment, taps the edge of her car key against
the lump. “Clang, clang, clang.” It sounds like she’s hitting a tiny pan.
The rock lump is actually made of metal oxide, here because of acid mine
drainage. We are standing on the site of the western basin decant near
Krugersdorp where these toxic waters have been flowing up to the surface since
2002.