“I get R30 a bag,” a young man proudly boasted as he came out of an abandoned pit adjacent to the old Middelburg Road.
He pushed a bag of coal in a shopping trolley towards the road where a man in a bakkie was waiting patiently.
“We are desperate, poor and unemployed. We need to feed our families,” the man said as he added his bag of coal to the rest already on the bakkie.
Once the bakkie was loaded full of coal the young man and his two friends left to go and sell their ‘loot’ for the day.
This is not fiction, but a harsh reality happening each and every day.
The real reason this raises alarm bells is that while investigating this illegal mining WITBANK NEWS stumbled across three abandoned mining pits.
A reliable source said mining was done there from as early as 2011. No mining activities were seen at the pits and it was not rehabilitated as prescribed by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).
Questions were sent to Ms Phuti Mabelebele from the DMR on April 15, but she failed to respond.
The men digging in the abandoned mines are taking huge risks. If they should be in the mine and it gives in, they will be buried alive.
“This happens often,” said Capt Eddie Hall, police spokesperson.
He remembers finding two children in an abandoned mine close to Old Coronation two years ago.
“When the bodies were found the two children had their arms wrapped around each other. It was heartbreaking,” Capt Hall said.
He also recalls an incident only eight months ago when 39-year old Patrick Mokhomola died digging for coal when the rock face fell on him. He was crushed under the rocks.
“Abandoned mines are extremely dangerous. There are not even notices to warm the communities of these abandoned mines. The entities that were mining there should be kept responsible for rehabilitating the mine,” Capt Hall said.
The photos were also sent to two mining entities operating in the area, Vandu Mining and Witbank Brickworks.
Mr Phillip de Lange from Vandu Mining responded and said the abandoned mine pits is not on their ground and does not belong to them.
Mr Wouter van Deventer from Witbank Brickworks did not reply.
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