In an attempt to recover the remains of three miners who have been buried for nine years, ActionSA has petitioned the Johannesburg High Court for access to the Lily Mine site in Mpumalanga.
Nine years have passed since Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi, and Solomon Nyirenda were trapped when their container sank underground due to an implosion on February 5, 2016.
In its court application, ActionSA asks for permission to designate a certified mine rescue organisation to retrieve the miners’ remains.
It also emphasises that in order to move forward with the recovery, MIMCO, the mine owner, and RC Devereux, the designated business rescue practitioner, must give their approval.
Government criticised for inaction
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba blasted the government and mine officials for inaction.
“This follows a frustrating combination of silence and refusal from both the mine authorities and the government, particularly the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, to fulfil their promises to retrieve the container,” said Mashaba.
The party offered to retrieve the bodies at its own expense in a letter to RC Devereux, but it never heard back, which prompted the legal action.
Mashaba had earlier stated that ActionSA and his family were prepared to raise money in order to retrieve the three mineworkers’ bodies.
He emphasised that by filing this court application, ActionSA is requesting that Devereux and MIMCO grant access and collaborate in order to retrieve the container in a safe and effective manner.
Securing justice for bereaved families
“If none of ActionSA’s interventions over the years demonstrate its unwavering commitment to standing alongside the bereaved families until the end of this painful journey, then this latest legal action certainly does,” said Mashaba.
“ActionSA’s dedication to securing justice for these families, an issue that has become political due to the negligence of the state and mine owners, is rooted in a fundamental belief in equality before the law.”
He also drew attention to the case’s larger political and human rights concerns, citing the government’s prior attempts to retrieve the remains of South Africans from overseas.
“The human rights of the families affected by the Lily Mine [disaster] are just as important as those of the 14 South African soldiers who were recently killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the families for whom the South African government has spent hundreds of millions of rands to recover the remains of their loved ones who died abroad during the anti-apartheid struggle.”
