Johannesburg - Rescuers will not leave the Vantage Goldfields’ Lily Mine in Barberton until the three workers trapped underground are located - dead or alive.
“We will not leave the site until they are found. This is a crisis and we need to stand together until they are brought to the surface,” said Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who visited the mine at the weekend.
Read: Lily rescue teams 'work tirelessly'
Zwane said factors such as what caused the mine to cave in more than a week ago would be dealt with at a later stage.
“Our focus is on getting the people out. The investigation will be dealt with after we have saved them.”
He said it was not for the department or anyone else to determine whether the miners were still alive.
The mission would remain a search-and-rescue one and not change to recovery until the miners were found, the minister said. “We are dealing with people’s lives here; people who have families. Our task is to support the families.
“For now, let’s not pre-empt the situation. We should continue searching for them.”
Zwane said the department and Vantage Goldfields were committed to retrieving the three workers. “We are going to stay here until experts arrive to assist on what else can be done to continue with the operation.”
Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyerende were working in a lamp-room container when it was swallowed up, after a section of the mine collapsed on February 5.
Their 87 colleagues were rescued the same day, but the metal container has yet to be found after days of digging and drilling.
Another section of the mine collapsed early on Saturday, resulting in the temporary suspension of the operation, as it had become unsafe for rescue teams.
The second collapse was believed to have been caused by rescue teams breaking through the rock in an effort to reach the container.
According to the mine, communication was established with what was believed to be the mineworkers, but the final time was last Tuesday.
An international geological company has since been asked to assist with the rescue mission.
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union leader Joseph Mathunjwa told reporters: “We have requested Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza to escalate the operations to national level. This should be declared a national disaster.”
Mathunjwa said more experts, such as rock engineers and surveyors, had been approached to assist in the efforts to locate the workers.
Mabuza reiterated the minister’s words that the three would be found, dead or alive.
“We are working with the mine, the Minerals and Resources Department and the families to ensure they are found,” said the premier.
He added that those involved in the operation would not throw in the towel, but would persevere in their bid to rescue the trio.
“The mine tried. They did everything within their powers to rescue the three mineworkers, but we need more help,” Mabuza said.
The families of the three mineworkers, meanwhile, will each receive R200 000 from Vantage Goldfields, Zwane disclosed. The surviving miners will get R50 000 each.
Zwane said the money was not enough to compensate the families and miners for the pain and suffering they had gone through, but the department and the country appreciated their contribution to the nation.
There were reports that a third section of the mine collapsed yesterday afternoon. Families of the trapped miners said the cave-in was so severe that they had to run away from the entrance of the mine.
THE STAR