News24 reports that Parliament's Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources has called for "harsher consequences" for a Sibanye-Stillwater mine if it could be found to have neglected measures to avert fatalities and loss of life prior to the deadly seismic events that occurred there last week.  

Seven miners were killed at the company’s Driefontein Masakhane mine.  The committee's chairperson, Olefile Sefako, said:  "Although seismic events are a course of nature, it is high time that mining companies face serious consequences for neglecting measures for detecting early warning signs.  Investigations [into] the accident should seek to establish the extent to which priority was given to health and safety at the mine."  He indicated that the committee believed that the right technology to detect early signs of seismic events could be found or created if sufficient resources were made available to conduct research.  The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) said on Saturday that mine safety had become a human rights issue and that legislation should be strengthened to hold mining bosses criminally accountable for failing to ensure safety at operations.

• Read this report by Jan Bornman in full at News24
• Read the select Committee’s press statement at Parliament Online
• See too, Early detection of seismic mine activity urged by minerals committee, at Business Report

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page