Families of 3 miners who died at Lily Mine have been let down by govt - ActionSA's Mashaba

JOHANNESBURG - ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said that the families of three miners who died in one of the worst accidents in mining history at Lily Mine had been let down by government.

This as the remains of Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi, and Solomon Nyirenda remain buried in rubble at the site which collapsed in 2016.

The trio died when an implosion caused the collapse of a section of the mine in 2016 trapping Nkambule, Mnisi and Nyirenda underground.

Almost a decade later, their families have not given up hope that the bodies will be recovered.

After years in the dark about what could have led to the 2016 ground collapse at Lily Mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga, an inquest found that illegal mining around the area and the hollowing out of the ground around it, contributed to the incident.

The inquest, concluded in 2023, added that the failure of police and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to combat illegal mining made the institutions complicit.

Australian miner, Vantage Goldfields, the owner of Lily Mine, was also found not to have done all its due dilligence in terms of safety standards.

ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba: "These are not just names, these are our fellow South Africans."

While the report was handed over to the NPA, no decision has been made on prosecutions, further frustrating the three families who say they want closure.