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Churches visit Lily Mine

Women and religion, catholic sister praying in church, holding c - Stock image
Women and religion, catholic sister praying in church, holding c - Stock image

Members of various churches visited Lily Mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga, on Sunday where three mineworkers have been trapped underground for nine days.

On Sunday afternoon, some congregants walked through the mine’s main entrance manned by three security guards. Close family members of the three mineworkers were inside the mine shaft, awaiting updates from mine management.

Many members of the media were camped near the main entrance but were not allowed to enter the premises. Two outside broadcast vans were also stationed at the mine.

On the streets of Barberton CBD, community members expressed deep concern for the three still trapped underground after the crown pillar at the Vantage Goldfields-owned mine collapsed on February 5. The three are trapped in a lamp room container which fell into the sinkhole created by the collapse and was subsequently covered in tons of rock.

Barberton resident Adriaan Meyer said his family had been praying daily for the rescue of Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Mabuza, and Solomon Nyarenda.

“Their job is very dangerous but with the high levels of unemployment in this country people end up taking such jobs. This is time for all South Africans to unite in prayer,” said Meyer.

Busani Masango said mining companies in the area did not have sufficient safety measures to avoid disaster.

“I’ve worked in different mines in this area and also in Rustenburg. What companies care about is profit. Sometimes our lives can be sacrificed for a mine’s profit. Government has to get tough with these mines,” said the father of five.

“Working conditions in the mining sector are unbelievable. We cannot afford to take good care of our families. It is worse for our families when we are killed in the mines.”

On Saturday, the presidency said three Cabinet ministers had been assigned to provide support to the families of the three mineworkers still trapped underground.

They are Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women Susan Shabangu, and Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.

The ministers would work with the provincial government to provide support to the affected families, the presidency said.

Also on Saturday, Zwane announced that Vantage Goldfields had offered R200,000 for each of the three mineworkers still trapped underground.

Zwane told reporters outside the mine shaft that the 76 miners rescued from the mine after last Friday’s collapse would also be compensated.

“I’m saying I have engaged with the mine. The effort that I have announced [the money] is specifically from the mine,” Zwane said.

“After our engagement with the mine, we agreed that ‘let’s look after our workers’. After all, these people work for all of us, we agreed. We came to an understanding that those who survived will each get R50,000 and for the three still trapped underneath the soil, by the time we get their container above the ground, each of them gets R200,000.”

Vantage Goldfields said rescue operations at the mine were suspended after a second ground collapse occurred at 5am on Saturday.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the company said all search and rescue teams were safely evacuated as a new geotechnical assessment was needed before the resumption of search and rescue operations could be considered.

The company said rescue teams had significantly increased the extraction rate of rocks and debris in the past 24 hours before the new ground collapse.

International specialists brought to Lily Mine had confirmed that the pit area was unstable as ongoing ground movement was detected, it said.
 

– African News Agency (ANA)

 

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