Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, says the number of illegal miners from Lesotho, who died underground at the Virginia Mine in the Free State, may increase from the 31 that has been reported.
Mantashe was speaking at the mine in Welkom where the accident occurred in May this year. A report of the incident was received by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) over the weekend.
“Illegal miners are... an attack on the economy, it’s a terrible thing to happen but we are here today to confirm and look for ourselves to see what is happening.
“I want to emphasise that illegal mining is not mining activity, it is a criminal activity. They get into accidents and die in numbers. They suspect 31 here [but] I can tell you if we ultimately reach that area [where they died], it will be more than 31. In Krugersdorp, we saw the death of 21 [and] in Gloria we saw the death of 17,” he said.
The Minister said efforts to retrieve bodies that are trapped underground will not be easy to execute.
“We have agreed to put our heads together to find a solution. We can’t leave those bodies underground with our conscience. That is what we are working on but this is going to take a bit longer because there is no direct shaft that has a connection with this shaft.
“When we opened the shaft, we discovered that the shaft that has a tunnel to this shaft is sealed…not only on the surface but it has been filled up. So the problem is much bigger but we are going to confront that problem. If it takes longer then it can take longer but we must take those bodies out. We have made that commitment,” he said.
Mantashe explained how the illegal miners gained access to the shaft that had been sealed since the closure of the mine in the 1990s.
“We commend Harmony [Gold mining company] for doing rehabilitation. There’s something called concurrent rehabilitation. Any mine that is operational does not wait until it is a derelict mine to rehabilitate. Harmony has done a lot of work there, they have sealed a number of the shafts
“But this one was blown open. It was sealed as well. The problem with that explosion is that it blows rehabilitation…and that is where the problem is,” he said.
Mantashe warned against illegal mining and the impact that it has on lives and the economy and called on the governments of Lesotho and South Africa to work together to combat the scourge.
“The basis of our engagement with the Lesotho government should be: There is a problem of a growing number of illegal miners, many of them come heavily armed and therefore both governments must have a cooperation in dealing with that crisis as two governments.
“People move from Lesotho armed and appear underground with arms and from time to time, we incur casualties in that process. So that is the discussion we should have with the Lesotho government,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
