The labour minister has welcomed the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prosecute two Sasol employees in connection with an explosion in 2004 in which ten people were killed.
”We are happy that our recommendations for prosecution have resulted in someone having to account for the flouting of the occupational health and safety laws,” said Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana on Thursday.
Ten people died and over 100 were injured in September 2004 when the blast occurred at an ethylene plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga.
The plant, part of Sasol’s polymers chemical production division, was undergoing planned maintenance and there were several contractors on site at the time of the explosion.
Labour inspectors submitted a recommendation for prosecution following investigations into the incident.
In response to Solidarity’s call for the department to publish the report, Mdladlana said: ”We tabled the report to the NPA and made our recommendations for prosecution. As soon as the NPA goes to court — it will then be a public document.”
It was therefore not correct for the union to suggest that the department had kept the report under wraps, he said. — Sapa