| Vaal Reefs | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa North West#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -26.929°N 26.736°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | North West |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Dr Kenneth Kaunda |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | City of Matlosana |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Total Km2: | 6.15 |
| Population Total: | 11345 |
| Population As Of: | 2001 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2001) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 94.8% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 0.2% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 5.0% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2001) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 34.7% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Sotho |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 26.1% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Tswana |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 14.3% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | Tsonga |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 6.0% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 18.9% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
Vaal Reefs is a gold bearing reef which is mined near the town of Orkney in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa.
The town of Orkney is home to a large gold mining operation originally owned by AngloGold Ashanti, a company that was originally incorporated in 1944 under the name of Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited.[1]
See main article: Vaal Reefs mining disaster.
A mining accident on 10 May 1995 killed 104 miners. A locomotive fell into an elevator shaft at the edge of 56 level, below the surface, landing on the cage and causing it to plunge to the bottom.[2] [3] It is the deadliest ever elevator disaster.[4]
This tragedy brought two key changes to the mining industry: The immediate implementation of a new Health & Safety Act and shareholders providing compensation to dead workers' dependents. In this case, 431 dependents became beneficiaries of the Vaal Reefs Disaster Trust. They lived or live across South Africa (114), Lesotho (219), Mozambique (54), Botswana (31) and Eswatini (13).[5]