Mining accident puts safety in the spotlight

Safety for mine workers is back in the spotlight after the latest incident at the Harmony Gold Elandsrand mine near Carletonville, where about 3 200 people were trapped underground.

The mining manager, Christo Pothas, said that shortly after 6am on Wednesday a large compressed air pipe in the shaft broke and fell.

The pipe snapped power and communication cables in the mine, leaving the nightshift miners stranded.

By Thursday afternoon the mine had managed to bring more than 2 000 miners to the surface, using a second shaft that is usually used to bring mined rocks to the surface.

The first miners reached the surface at 1am on Thursday. Pothas said there were no casualties and only a few miners were treated for dehydration.

Dr Nhlanhla Mtshali said the paramedics team had treated three miners who collapsed from dehydration and fatigue and another five who suffered from cramps.

One survivor said the miners had prayed and sung underground and that it had been very hot.

Some mine workers estimated the temperature to have reached 40°C down in the shaft.

‘We did not have any water or food,” the miner said.

The stress was clearly too much for some of the miners, with some weeping as they reached the surface.

Vusi Dlamini, a miner who was trapped, said the ventilation was quite bad and the lack of water was a big problem. ‘I am tired and dehydrated,” he said.

Another miner said the nightshift miners, who went down on Tuesday at 4pm, had soon run out of food and water. But, he said, conditions were still safe.

Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica, who visited the site on Thursday, said her department would investigate what had led to the accident.

‘We can prosecute or close the mine if the mine was found to be negligent in one way or the other,” she said. ‘I am making safety one of the key performance areas for chief executives. We need to take this up at that level.”

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it suspected negligence was behind the accident. The union would urge mining companies to build emergency exits in the mine as a matter of priority.

NUM president Senzeni Zokwana was critical of the fact that Harmony’s mining operations continued for 24 hours a day. ‘Because of continuous operations, there is no time to make adequate checks.”