ActionSA has pledged to continue supporting the Lily Mine victims’ families in their quest for justice and closure.
Its leader, Herman Mashaba, said they believe the National Assembly has the relevant powers through legislation to investigate the tragedy through a portfolio committee and hold state entities accountable.
On Sunday, the party announced that it has written to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, as well as Deputy Speaker Dr Annelie Lotriet, to request that Parliament investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the Lily Mine tragedy which occurred on 5 February 2016.
ActionSA said it has also informed the Public Protector as well as the South African Human Rights Commission about the matter.
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Three miners – Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda – tragically lost their lives in an accident at the Barbeton, Mpumalanga based mine. They were trapped underground when the lamp room in which they were working collapsed. To this day, the container remains underground with the three bodies.
“It is an abuse of human rights that more than eight years after the Lily Mine Tragedy occurred, the families are not one step closer to closure as they have been repeatedly let down by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy [DMRE], Minister Gwede Mantashe, the National Prosecuting Authority [NPA] and mine owners,” ActionSA said in a statement.
The department completed the inquiry into the cause of the accident in terms of section 65(1) of the Mine Health and Safety Act No 29 of 1996. The report was submitted to the Director for Public Prosecutions in August 2018.
An administrative fine of R1 million was issued in September 2020, to Vantage Goldfields (Pty) Ltd as per the recommendation of the inquiry report.
“Despite the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court already ruling in October last year that mine owners, DMRE and Minister Mantashe should be held criminally accountable for the tragedy as it could’ve been prevented, the NPA has taken no action to criminally charge anyone.
“Meanwhile, the Business Rescue Practitioners are in contravention of at least three court orders, while Minister Mantashe extended a mining licence to the very same company believed to be responsible for the tragedy,” said ActionSA.
