The South African government is speaking to the mining sector about setting up the industry safety audit called for by President Thabo Mbeki.
”The government calls on the industry to work with the Department of Minerals and Energy and other stakeholders to ensure that concrete steps are taken to prevent the unnecessary loss of life,” government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
Briefing the media in Pretoria following Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, he said the incident at Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand gold mine last week had ”highlighted the need for urgent steps to be taken by the industry to improve safety in the mines”.
Over 3 200 miners at Elandsrand were stuck underground, some for two days, after damage to the main shaft prevented them being hoisted to the surface.
Last Friday, Mbeki called on Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica to ensure South Africa’s 700 mines were checked by her department’s mine health and safety inspectorate.
Responding to a question at the briefing about staff shortages at the inspectorate, Maseko said those appointed to the audit task team could include people from the industry, and, possibly, consultants.
On a time frame for the safety audit, he said this had not been established, but would stem from discussions currently taking place between Sonjica and key industry role-players.
A total of 199 people died and about 4 000 were injured on South African mines last year. — Sapa