By: Natasha Archary
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) is calling for Impala Platinum (Implats) management to be held accountable and charged with culpable homicide.
This after 11 mineworkers died in an elevator accident on Monday, 27 November, while a further 75 employees were injured.
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Amcu President, Joseph Mathunjwa has accused Implats management of neglience, saying the incident and loss of life could have been avoided if the elevators were service regularly and safety measures were in place.
“We have been calling for the amendment of the mine safety act. We want these company bosses to be held accountable and charged with culpable homicide.
This accident could have been avoided. These lifts need to be serviced regularly and the safety measures should be checked.
For a lift of this magnitude to have all safety measures failing and crashing, who’s going to charge them? Because the politicians have interests in these mines.
Our tolerance level is very high, we tolerate all rubbish that happens to us because that’s how we are. In Lily Mine, we still have 3 workers trapped there. They can’t go and retrieve just a container with 3 people inside.”
Amcu President Joseph Mathunjwa
Mathunjwa said the accident at Implats is not an isolated incident in the mining sector as two weeks ago 2 mineworkers died at Sibanye, and to date nothing has happened.
Meanwhile, in an update from Implats on Tuesday, the status of those workers who were injured in the accident and were hospitalised has taken a turn for the worse.
The mining company says of the 75 mineworkers who were hospitalised, 14 were deemed to be in a critical condition.
All operations at the mine were suspended on Tuesday, and will remain so until all internal processes are complete.
“The accident involved the personnel conveyance elevator at Shaft 11, which is approximately 1 000m deep across 20 levels.
After ascending as scheduled towards level 17, the conveyance unexpectedly reversed direction and began descending back down through the shaft.
The emergency protocol for such an incident was immediately and automatically activated. Regrettably, although the winder rope remained intact, the emergency protocol failed to immediately arrest the lift’s rapid descent.”
Implats in a statement on Tuesday, 28 November
Implats confirms that as of late Tuesday afternoon, 75 employees involved in Monday’s 11 Shaft accident remain hospitalised, 14 of whom are deemed to be in a critical condition. pic.twitter.com/pFCRK1ycap
— Implats (@Implats) November 28, 2023
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