Sibanye-Stillwater miners sweat it out underground after theft, vandalism
At least 20 miners at Sibanye-Stillwater had to wait underground due to a supply interruption caused by power lines that fell as the integrity of the pylons along these lines was compromised by theft and vandalism.
Earlier this week, theft and vandalism of Eskom’s electricity infrastructure resulted in a power outage that left at least 20 miners underground for some time until they were safely brought to the surface.
Eskom spokesperson Amanda Qithi said they (Eskom) dispatched a team of technicians to promptly restore supply to Sibanye Gold Mine in Randfontein on February 20 where miners were unable to resurface due to a supply interruption caused by power lines that fell as the integrity of the pylons along these lines was compromised by theft and vandalism.
“The miners, who were trapped in the mine after the collapse of power lines, were safely evacuated when supply was restored.”
Qithi added that Cooke shaft 1/Cooke, Cooke shaft 3/Kagiso, and Panvlakte/Cooke reduction’s 132 kV lines fell during the storm as the integrity of the pylons along these lines was compromised. The pylon structures were weakened by the theft of the tower members and the unstable ground caused by digging around the foundation. Production in the gold-extracting mine came to a grinding halt while Eskom worked to restore supply at significantly high costs.
“Theft of tower members leads to the instability and collapse of the pylons that carry high voltage power lines, which then pose a serious safety risk to members of the public. This criminal practice has an additional devastating impact on the economy and on Eskom’s ability to sustain the provision of electricity. The power utility spends a fortune on the replacement of stolen pylon parts and other network equipment.”
She said supply was restored to Cooke shaft 1/Cooke and Panvlakte/Cooke, and Eskom technicians are still on site and working around the clock to energise Cooke shaft 3/Kagiso.
“We recently reported that vandalism and theft have extended to include pylons whose tower members are often stolen by unscrupulous criminal elements, resulting in the steel structures collapsing. It is disturbing that this incident happens a week after we raised concern about incidents of theft and vandalism of pylons,” said Mashangu Xivambu, Maintenance and Operations Senior Manager in Gauteng.
Xivambu further appealed to the public to partner with Eskom by reporting illegal connections, theft, and vandalism of electricity infrastructure to the Eskom crime line number on 0800 112 722.
James Wellsted, a spokesperson for Sibanye-Stillwater confirmed the incident affecting power to the Cooke operations occurred at approximately 15:30 on Monday, February 20.
“There were about 20 people [care and maintenance crews] which we were safely brought up to the surface by 18:00 after we restored emergency power.”
He added that the Cooke mines were placed on care and maintenance in 2017, partly because of issues they were having with illegal mining and employee collusion, and haven’t been in operation since. The processing plant on the surface processes dump material still, but there is no production from underground.
“The employees were never trapped as per Eskom’s statement, they just had to wait until we had restored emergency power and were never at any risk. That said, the increased frequency of these kinds of incidents and escalation in crime is a concern and poses a risk to every South African. The lack of law and order in the country and failure of Eskom to provide basic services is a concern.”
