Vaal Reefs

Template:Infobox South African town Vaal Reefs is a town in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa.

The town is home to a large gold mining operation owned by AngloGold Ashanti, a company that was originally incorporated in 1944 under the name of Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited.

Vaal Reefs Tragedy A mining accident on 10 May 1995 resulted in the death of 104 miners when a locomotive fell into a lift shaft at the edge of 56 level (1,676 m below surface), landing on the cage and causing it to plunge 1,500 feet (460 m) to the bottom of the shaft (2,300 m below surface). It was history's worst ever elevator disaster.

This tragedy brought two key changes to the mining industry. Firstly, the immediate implementation of the new Health & Safety Act - specifically the five basic rights – and secondly, for the first time ever, the stakeholders for the first time took care of the dependents after the death of breadwinners.

The 104 victims of the disaster left 431 dependents (all entirely dependent before on the deceased) and now the beneficiaries of the Vaal Reefs Disaster Trust. The dependents of the deceased are scattered across South African and the neighbouring countries. The majority widows and children live in Lesotho 219, followed by South Africa 114, Mozambique 54, Botswana 31 and Swaziland 13.