Lily Mine tragedy: ActionSA's Mashaba implores Parliament in writing to probe matter
The remains of Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda have never been recovered from the belly of the earth.
FILE: ActionSA president Herman Mashaba at the party's inaugural policy conference at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on 12 September 2023. Picture: X/HermanMashaba
JOHANNESBURG - Calls for accountability in the Lily Mine tragedy are expected to make their way to the desk of the National Assembly Speaker after ActionSA has penned a fresh letter to the house.
The party said it’s appalling that eight years after three miners were trapped in a container below the surface – no one has been held accountable.
Action SA wants National Assembly Speaker Thoko dDidiza and Deputy Speaker Annelie Lotriet to launch their own investigation into the matter.
The remains of Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda have never been recovered from the belly of the earth.
ALSO READ: 8 yrs later it's devastating that there's no justice for Lily Mine families, says ActionSA
ActionSA said it’s an abuse of human rights that more than eight years later, their families still have no closure.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba – who was given power of attorney by the families – said they had been let down by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister Gwede Mantashe, the National Prosecuting Authority and the mine owners.
“It is for this reason that I took a decision to write to the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker of this new coalition government to take this inquest to Parliament.”
He believes the National Assembly has the relevant powers through legislation to investigate the 2016 tragedy through a portfolio committee and hold State entities accountable for their failure.