ActionSA has filed a motion to join the Mpumalanga High Court proceedings on 4 May 2021 in respect of the business rescue process relating to Lily Mine.

Last week the Barberton High Court granted an interim interdict on the business rescue award of the mine after an unsuccessful bidder took the matter to court.

ActionSA’s legal team will file papers urging that the court to see this matter as not only a commercial consideration, but one that has generated enormous levels of suffering for the families and former miners at Lily Mine.

We want the court to ensure that, whatever it rules, it is binding, time-bound and that we can hold all parties to account to adhere to the tightest of deadlines.

The former miners and families at Lily Mine have endured the worst treatment from their own government who falsely claimed the container was irretrievable for 5 years, a fact that we have now disproven. The criminal justice treated them with hostility rather than victims deserving justice.

Critical to this court case, the Business Rescue Process has found one reason after the next to stall, all to the benefit of mine management who face certain criminal charges when the container is retrieved. In 2019, the High Court ordered the Business Rescue Practitioners to conclude the work within 10 days, and yet it remains unresolved today.

ActionSA has come to the view that the fastest solution for the former miners and families lies with the business rescue process, and a company initiating the retrieval of the container. This is why we will leverage the court proceedings to put a ticking lock on these proceedings, and one which allows us to hold any party in contempt of court for not adhering to its timeline.

ActionSA has been in talks with the NPA who have committed to initiate proceedings leading to the prosecution of mine management. This arises from 5 years of no justice despite the DMRE report clearly finding mine management criminally liable for the collapse of the mine.

It is time that every party in this matter realises that this is no ordinary business rescue process, and that further delays will not be tolerated.