Johannesburg - Simangaliso Dlodlo wept uncontrollably on Wednesday night as the mine rescue team broke the news that her partner’s crushed body had been found.
Dlodlo will never get to see the body of the illegal miner or give her partner a proper burial.
This is after a mission to bring up the body of Thandazani Dlamini, crushed to death in a rockfall at a disused Joburg mine, was called off for safety reasons.
An unemployed and overwhelmed Dlodlo had waited for hours for news of Dlamini’s fate after rushing to Zamimpilo informal settlement in the Riverlea area, where the search-and-rescue mission for what was believed to be trapped illegal miners had begun.
An illegal miner who led the search team to the spot said Dlamini was trapped under a huge rock, adding “it was not going to be possible to retrieve his body because of the size of the rock, which might lead to further rockfalls when moved”.
Dlodlo and Dlamini, both 33 and Zimbabwean, were dependent on illegal mining for a living.
“Now that (Dlamini) is dead, I’m left with five children (initially two sets of triplets, of which one child died).
“He was the breadwinner and (illegal mining) was his life and a source of income for the family,” she said.
“It’s like I just saw my world crushing right in front of me when they broke the bad news to me.”
It all started on Wednesday morning when police patrolling the informal settlement received a report that a miner, or miners, were trapped underground.
At least one miner was pinned down by a rockfall, they were told.
The rescue mission took several hours to prepare as teams, police and mining authorities were called and permission was obtained to start the search.
The two illegal miners who reported the incident led the team.
In the middle of the rescue mission, nine miners emerged through a small hole, only to be faced with masses of police and fire and rescue staff.
Six more miners emerged late on Wednesday.
There are said to be hundreds of tunnels at the mine site, that lead to all parts of the city, crossing from east to west and north to south.
The Star