South Africa: Anger at inaction over mines

In the western Johannesburg suburbs, acid mine water began leaking in 2002.

In towns such as Krugersdorp, acidic lakes dot the landscape near huge, open piles of chemicals extracted from mines.

Signs warning of radiation are posted outside a sludge-filled pool of a copper coloured liquid, hippos at a nearby nature reserve are going blind due to what is thought to be acid water run-off and fish are dying in polluted water near the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site - a rich fossil site that has yielded clues on the origin of humans.

"The fact that the government has not acted is astonishing," said Mariette Liefferink, chief executive of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, who has campaigned for a clean-up and warned that water supplies are at risk.