The Lily Mine disaster, which claimed the lives of three mineworkers seven years ago, could have been avoided.
An inquest into the 2016 Lily Mine disaster in Mpumalanga has revealed that the disaster was caused by the failure of government to address illegal mining and the mine’s owner, Vantage Goldfields, had also failed to do a proper assessment under the Mine Health and Safety Act.
Magistrate Annemarie van der Merwe of the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court delivered the outcome of a two-year inquest into the deaths on Thursday.
Three mine workers — Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi, and Pretty Nkambule — were left 70 metres underground at Lily Mine. There were initial search and rescue efforts to retrieve the remains, but these were later abandoned leaving their bodies trapped underground.
Judge Van der Merwe said it was clear from the evidence presented in court that the institutions of the South African Police Services and Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) were, at the time of the Lily Mine disaster, “merely giving lip service” to the issue of illegal mining and that they were not effectively addressing the issue.
“It is therefore found that they had failed at the time to ensure the safety of the three lamp room attendants who had perished in an incident that happened as a result of the activities of illegal miners,” Van der Merwe said.
A record of the proceedings would be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for the possibility of instituting criminal proceedings.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika on Thursday, Head of Organisational Development for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), Krister Janse van Rensburg said they were elated by the judgment and felt justified and vindicated.
“Big business normally and government are often to blame for these senseless deaths,” he said.
Janse van Rensburg said that big businesses fail in conducting proper care when doing their risk assessments and the DMRE lacked serious capacity.
He added that with regards to the increase in zama-zamas and the catastrophic results of their work, it showed the weaknesses in the police.
“We hope that other mine owners and mine managers take heed and be more wary in future. It is always the battle between profit and people and often production trumps safety and that is what we as a trade union are always fighting for,” he said.
Spokesperson for the Lily Mine families Harry Mazibuko said they have always called for the bodies to be retrieved but this judgment has paved a way forward for the closure they waited for.
Mazibuko said the families have been camped outside the mine for the past 1,633 days since the disaster.