The National Union of Mineworkers has called for a formal inquiry into mine deaths.
This, after six miners, were killed in a fire which broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning at Phalaborwa Copper Mine in Limpopo.
NUM’s Health and Safety chairperson, Duncan Luvuno, said that “we are thinking that maybe we need an inquiry that will look at these incidents because it seems like we are continuously putting profits before the lives of the employees.”
“And, really something has to give. Licenses have to be taken if people are continuing to put the safety at the back and putting profits first," he told Algoa FM News.
The NUM has demanded an immediate thorough investigation by the Department of Mineral Resources to establish the cause of this incident.
“The fact that there is no improvement on fatal accidents in the mining sector can only be interpreted as a sign of a lack of commitment towards zero harm and zero death by the mining sector,” Luvuno said.
Meanwhile, mine spokesperson, Lydia Radebe said the workers were trapped, when an underground fire erupted in the early hours of Sunday morning.
She said the fire was a result of a conveyer belt catching fire. Radebe confirmed that six workers died in the fire while others were rescued.
