ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has offered to retrieve the bodies of the three deceased Vantage Goldfields Lily mine employees who were trapped and died when a central pillar collapsed into a sinkhole in February 2016.
Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Winnie Nkambule were in an above-ground container that was being used as a lamp room on February 5 2016 when the mine collapsed and they were buried 70m underground under 20,000 tonnes of earth. Their bodies have still not been retrieved.
Mashaba said he was frustrated by the long wait, which had prompted him to write to the business rescue practitioner of Vantage Goldfields, RC Devreaux, to offer to retrieve the bodies at ActionSA’s expense.
“The whole thing has been turned into an upmanship battle through litigation by Vantage Goldfields and Agromanzi. It is sad. I cannot sit by with a clear conscience knowing that these families continue to be denied the justice they deserve,” Mashaba said.
“The families of the Lily mine three have fought all these years for the retrieval of their loved ones and the dignity that comes with them. We believe this will enable the families to bury their loved ones and start their journey towards relative closure.
“ActionSA makes this proposal to fight for these families precisely because everyone else has either forgotten and moved on or simply given up on their story.”
He said the party’s decision to seek permission to handle the retrieval was informed by the NPA and mine management’s contempt of court.
“We have been given the legal right to defend the families in the matter, so we see no reason to remain quiet in the face of more than a year of NPA contempt of court. Therefore, instead of continuing to wait for some action by the NPA, we feel that it is appropriate to go the route we propose and to directly obtain the rights to secure a company with relevant expertise in mining rescue, here in South Africa or elsewhere, to help retrieve the container with the three bodies and finally get justice for the families,” Mashaba said.
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