The families of the Lily Mine workers who were swallowed into the earth eight years ago, say they have no faith that change is coming after the parliamentary portfolio committee on mineral resources and petroleum’s intervention aimed at recovering the remains of three workers.
The committee welcomed the progress made by Vantage Goldfields to secure funds to reopen the gold mine by the end of September.
This is supposed to pave the way for retrieving the bodies of Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule.
The three workers’ bodies have been trapped underground since February 5, 2016, after a sinkhole swallowed the container they were working in.
Though 87 other miners were rescued, the three workers’ bodies remain trapped 80m below the surface. For their families, the wait has been nothing short of agonising.
While the parliamentary committee expressed hope that the retrieval mission will soon bring closure, the families are not convinced.
“We have been lied to so many times. This is nothing but a political game,” said Sifiso Mavuso, Nkambule’s brother.
Mavuso told Sunday World that the families held a day-long meeting with their trusted activist, Harry Mazibuko.
Mazibuko has been following the case since the tragedy struck.
“We looked at what the portfolio committee presented and saw the same old lies,” Mavuso said.
“These people came for a site visit in October 2021 and promised us many things. What happened? Nothing. We are still torn and in tears.”
Mavuso also pointed out that the inquest by the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court found that Vantage Goldfields had violated several regulations that
warranted prosecution.
“Instead of prosecuting them, they want to reward them with control of the mine,” he said. “We know that an engineer warned them as far back as 2010 that the underground route was unstable, and a new one had to be built. They did not listen.”
Mavuso believes that all these delays are a cover-up of a much bigger scandal.
Mazibuko agrees, calling the committee’s statement nothing but “theatrics for the gallery”.
“These families were once promised expropriation of the mine with reasonable compensation to the company they want to with work,” he said. “The mine was supposed to be handed over to those with the resources to do the work, yet it is given to those still struggling to raise funds.”
Mazibuko said the committee had failed to convince the families.
“For years, I’ve been working with these families, and they’re not buying it. This year in April, minister Gwede Mantashe told South Africans that by July 2024, the issue of Lily Mine will be resolved. Now, there’s a new deadline of September 30, 2024.”
The weariness of the community and the families camped at the foothill of the mine reflects the toll this eight-year battle has taken.
Some former Lily Mine workers, however, remain hopeful. Many of them have turned to illegal mining to survive.
“If what they are saying is true, we are happy to hear that we may be paid the salaries we lost,” said one former worker.
ActionSA, led by Herman Mashaba, has been a staunch supporter of the Lily Mine families from the beginning.
In April, the party, along with the families, picketed outside the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) headquarters in Pretoria.
They called on the NPA to act on the -recommendation of the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court inquest that recommended possible criminal prosecutions against those responsible for the tragedy.
Action SA national spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni said while they welcomed parliament’s intervention, it was too soon to celebrate.
“It’s not over until the work begins,” said Ngobeni.
