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Business Times reports that chief inspector of mines David Msiza says that the Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE) is determined to go ahead with tougher penalties for mining companies in a bid to improve safety standards.
In June last year the department published a Mine Health & Safety Amendment Bill, which, among other things, makes provisions for criminal fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual turnover. The bill was slammed at the time by leading mining law expert Willem le Roux, who has broad experience in representing mining companies in civil and criminal cases. He singled out proposals to make corporate manslaughter a crime and impose penalties of 10% of turnover for criticism. But Msiza said last week that the current penalties provided for under the act were not stringent enough to deter unsafe operations. Noting that it was impossible to put a financial value on the life of a mineworker, he indicated: "We are proposing that it [the fine] should be 10% of the money that the mine is making. There is an outcry obviously, from some of the employers and some of their legal people that are representing them, saying that 10% is too much." Msiza added that in addition to increasing penalties, the DMRE had promulgated collision avoidance legislation in December last year. This means all mines will have to equip vehicles operating underground and on the surface with technology that automatically sounds an effective warning of the danger of collision with a mineworker or another vehicle. The technology should also apply the vehicle’s brakes if necessary.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page