Failed junior miner Pamodzi’s Gold’s Ndlovu shaft, which was sealed last week with steel plates and a pile of dirt, would now look like a grave and represent the legacy of Aurora Empowerment Systems, trade union Solidarity said on Monday.
Aurora was given control of Pamodzi’s Grootvlei and Orkney mines until its eviction in May.
Solidarity said the Pamodzi liquidators closed the shaft after an allegedly illegal miner fell 400m to his death earlier in June.
Solidarity reported then that Hlelali Solimzima of Springs fell and died in the Ndlovu shaft, which Solidarity said was left as an open hole in the ground after Aurora neglected to maintain the shaft.
AfriForum environmental affairs head Julius Kleynhans said the Ndlovu shaft now bore silent witness to the tragedy that had taken place over the past two years.
“The Ndlovu shaft was erected only four years ago. However, the shaft is now pillaged in such a way that it will cost R100-million to reconstruct. This is more than double the R40-million that it cost to erect,” Kleynhans said.
Kleynhans said he has started with preparations for a comprehensive impact study at the former Aurora mines. The study would investigate the environmental impact caused by Aurora, and expose general public safety concerns and occupational health, according to Kleynhans.
Kleynhans also said the study would then be submitted to the portfolio committee on mineral resources, the Pamodzi liquidators, the Department of Mineral Resources, the Department of Labour and the Department of Environmental Affairs. — I-Net Bridge