Dear Mr President,
I am moved to write this open letter to you following our visit as a parliamentary caucus to the Lily Mine in Barberton yesterday. On the fateful day of 5 February 2016, three miners at the Lily Mine fell to their deaths in a container that was swallowed by a sinkhole.
This tragedy could and should have been averted had the mine owners heeded reports submitted to them two years prior, warning that they were pursuing reckless mining practices. Not only did their careless greed lead to the unnecessary loss of life, it also resulted in the catastrophic loss of a thousand desperately needed jobs.
The bereaved families have been camped in the most inhumane conditions 1 000 metres from the mine, in terms of a court order, but primarily because every undertaking and promise by the mine owners, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMRE) and various spheres of government has failed to come to fruition. This is a situation borne out of tragedy, neglect and broken promises, and the families have vowed to remain there, away from their homes, families and even employment opportunities, until the remains of their loved ones are returned.
Our visit yesterday was borne out of Mr Herman Mashaba’s deep conviction for the families’ struggle, as he has been involved in this matter since February 2020, even before the formation of our political party, ActionSA. We have spent in excess of R4 million on legal fees alone, in addition to expenses related to regular visitations, travel, accommodation and support to the families. These expenses, while significant, were worthwhile and meaningful, for while everyone else, including their own government, has abandoned them, we knew it was the right thing to do.
When you became President of South Africa in your first term, you decried the preceding nine wasted years under your predecessor. You invoked the biblical call of Thuma Mina and challenged us all to do what we could for our country. In February next year it will be ten years, a full decade, since this tragedy occurred, yet not a finger has been lifted by your government, past or present, to retrieve the remains of these miners.
Yet we have previously sent our mine rescue practitioners to Chile to save trapped miners. We have spent more than R100 million retrieving the bodies of deceased illegal miners (zama zama) from the bowels of the Stilfontein mine. We have spent millions of rands arresting zama zama at the nearby Shiba Mine in Barberton as part of the Vala Umgodi initiative. Yet nothing is being done to retrieve the entombed bodies of Solomon, Pretty and Yvonne from the Lily Mine.
Your party leadership, successive provincial premiers, MECs, Ministers, departmental officials, business rescue practitioners and the mine owners have dishonoured every commitment made to the families of these miners. Worse still, mining continues illegally, with the mine owners and business rescue practitioners using zama zama to extract gold, yet they show no inclination or commitment to do what they should have done almost ten years ago.
My direct question to you, as the President, is this: what will you do now that I have placed this matter before you in this open and public correspondence? It is not that you are unaware of this issue. You have heard us, on at least three occasions, advising Minister Mantashe in Parliament that we will not support the DMRE budget until he has facilitated the retrieval of the miners’ remains. He repeatedly responds by saying, “We will get them out/sizabakhupha,” yet he remains unmoved and shows no inclination to make this happen.
I believe this is not only a blight on your government but also a dreadful reflection on your own lack of compassion and humanity. Is Ubuntu really dead in our country? If not, what will you do?
Open Letter to President Ramaphosa on the Lily Mine Tragedy and the Families’ Struggle for Justice
Dear Mr President,
I am moved to write this open letter to you following our visit as a parliamentary caucus to the Lily Mine in Barberton yesterday. On the fateful day of 5 February 2016, three miners at the Lily Mine fell to their deaths in a container that was swallowed by a sinkhole.
This tragedy could and should have been averted had the mine owners heeded reports submitted to them two years prior, warning that they were pursuing reckless mining practices. Not only did their careless greed lead to the unnecessary loss of life, it also resulted in the catastrophic loss of a thousand desperately needed jobs.
The bereaved families have been camped in the most inhumane conditions 1 000 metres from the mine, in terms of a court order, but primarily because every undertaking and promise by the mine owners, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMRE) and various spheres of government has failed to come to fruition. This is a situation borne out of tragedy, neglect and broken promises, and the families have vowed to remain there, away from their homes, families and even employment opportunities, until the remains of their loved ones are returned.
Our visit yesterday was borne out of Mr Herman Mashaba’s deep conviction for the families’ struggle, as he has been involved in this matter since February 2020, even before the formation of our political party, ActionSA. We have spent in excess of R4 million on legal fees alone, in addition to expenses related to regular visitations, travel, accommodation and support to the families. These expenses, while significant, were worthwhile and meaningful, for while everyone else, including their own government, has abandoned them, we knew it was the right thing to do.
When you became President of South Africa in your first term, you decried the preceding nine wasted years under your predecessor. You invoked the biblical call of Thuma Mina and challenged us all to do what we could for our country. In February next year it will be ten years, a full decade, since this tragedy occurred, yet not a finger has been lifted by your government, past or present, to retrieve the remains of these miners.
Yet we have previously sent our mine rescue practitioners to Chile to save trapped miners. We have spent more than R100 million retrieving the bodies of deceased illegal miners (zama zama) from the bowels of the Stilfontein mine. We have spent millions of rands arresting zama zama at the nearby Shiba Mine in Barberton as part of the Vala Umgodi initiative. Yet nothing is being done to retrieve the entombed bodies of Solomon, Pretty and Yvonne from the Lily Mine.
Your party leadership, successive provincial premiers, MECs, Ministers, departmental officials, business rescue practitioners and the mine owners have dishonoured every commitment made to the families of these miners. Worse still, mining continues illegally, with the mine owners and business rescue practitioners using zama zama to extract gold, yet they show no inclination or commitment to do what they should have done almost ten years ago.
My direct question to you, as the President, is this: what will you do now that I have placed this matter before you in this open and public correspondence? It is not that you are unaware of this issue. You have heard us, on at least three occasions, advising Minister Mantashe in Parliament that we will not support the DMRE budget until he has facilitated the retrieval of the miners’ remains. He repeatedly responds by saying, “We will get them out/sizabakhupha,” yet he remains unmoved and shows no inclination to make this happen.
I believe this is not only a blight on your government but also a dreadful reflection on your own lack of compassion and humanity. Is Ubuntu really dead in our country? If not, what will you do?