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Moneyweb writes that it has been nearly three years since the families of Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule set up camp outside the gates of Lily gold mine in Mpumalanga.
They are awaiting the reopening of a mine that was shut down and placed in business rescue after a support pillar collapsed and sent the container in which the three workers were dispensing safety equipment crashing into the bowels of the earth. The container, and the bodies, remain buried to this day. “We moved here on the 30th of April 2019, just before Workers Day [May 1], to draw attention to our predicament. We’ve been camping here ever since,” indicated Harry Mazibuko, spokesperson for the families and a former Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) official working in the mine. On 25 January 2022, the families will have been camped outside Lily mine for 1,000 days. It’s an extraordinary and solemn vigil that the families say will not end until they get closure on the fate of their loved ones. The exact causes of the pillar collapse are the subject of an ongoing magisterial inquest which resumes later this month. Family members say they have had little contact with mine management since the accident happened, but this is disputed by Vantage Goldfields CEO Mike McChesney. The fact that the mine has been shuttered for six years, and remains trapped in the court system, is a source of bitterness among the family members holding vigil outside Lily. The reopening of the mine depends in large part on the outcome of two cases before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). The two parties fighting for control of the assets are Arqomanzi and Vantage Goldfields SA, under the watch of which the accident occurred).
- Read the full original of the extensive report in the above regard by Ciaran Ryan at Moneyweb
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