Former mine workers and families of those who died in the Lily Mine collapse in 2016 last week marked one year of camping outside the mine with a solemn prayer session. Unlike most anniversaries, they had nothing to celebrate, writes Herman Mashaba.
They prayed for a government that cares about their plight and for justice for the mine management, which was found to have been responsible for killing their loved ones, and gave thanks to South Africans who donated food and supplies to sustain them.An above-ground container used as a lamp room was buried 70m underground, and with it Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyarende. Nkambule’s daughter was an infant at the time of the mine collapse.
As a matter of fact, it took nearly two years for the former mine workers and their families to even be allowed to open a case, despite the 2017 department report necessitating such action. Instead of a criminal justice system working for them, it persecuted them. Most recently, a joint police and SA National Defence Force operation tried to evict them from the area, despite the regulations of the lockdown prohibiting evictions and efforts on their part to achieve social distancing.
Shortly after the rescue was called off, Vantage went into business rescue, and a practitioner was appointed by the courts. They offered to pay the former mine workers the outstanding wages they were owed and to re-employ them once the mine reopened. These bids stalled when Vantage refused to agree to these arrangements.
After meeting with them at the mine, we have arranged the best legal representation to sue our government so that it is forced to act.
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