Mashaba finds Lily Mine container was retrievable

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba held a press conference to reveal major findings in the Lily Mine case and confirmed a previous report deeming the retrieval of the container which entrapped the three minors irretrievably, was nothing short of propaganda.

“A report and its documentation have very little to do with irretrievability. No evidence exists in the 500 to substantiate findings. No mention is made of such a report and its findings.”

Mashaba said he and his legal team found that the idea of the container being irretrievable was propaganda.

These were “elaborate lies in the history of South Africa,” Mashaba highlighted.

Mashaba plans to launch a legal strategy to retrieve the container as the report had no scientific information on the retrievability on the container.

“We will issue an application and compel the department to act against those who perpetuated the lie of irretrievability.”

Legal action to force DMRE to retrieve the container that has entombed the remains of the trapped Lily Mineworkers for over four years continues, with Mashaba reiterating that he would not stop until justice was served.

Family spokesperson, Harry Mazibuko speaks during a press conference at the Regenesys business school in Sandton, 23 September 2020. ActionSA is helping the families of the Lily Mine collapse victims to force government to retrieve the bodys. Picture: Neil McCartney

Following a lengthy process to obtain documents used to substantiate the DMRE’s decision to deem the container irretrievable, the former mayor apologised to the families of the miners who had to date camped at the mine for over 500 days.

Mashaba, who went to court to compel the mine to retrieve the bodies of the miners, argues that the documents in question, which were used to substantiate a 2018 health and safety report, found that the container could not be retrieved and this was nothing short of hoax.

Narrating the background to the Lily Mine saga, Mashaba said a DMRE report had found management responsible for the collapse.

The families of three mine workers, whose bodies remain underground at Lily Mine in Mpumalanga have expressed requests for the owners of the mine and government to be prosecuted for their failure to recover the miners.

The miners, Solomon Nyirenda, Pretty Nkambule and Yvonne Mnisi were trapped in a container when a shaft collapsed at the mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga in February 2016.

Families have since sought relief from the courts, arguing that government departments had means and capacity to retrieve the bodies of the miners.

Mashaba stepped into the ring and offered to assist the families with the legal challenge.

With a plan to petition the Constitutional Court, the families still seek action for the minors.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.