Johannesburg – As details emerge of the shocking number of bodies retrieved from abandoned shafts in Stilfontein, North West, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for an Inquiry into all aspects of what happened at Buffelsfontein mine.
Late on Tuesday, police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said: “On day two of operations, a total of 106 alive illegal miners were retrieved and arrested for illegal mining… 51 [others] were certified dead”.
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The previous day, nine bodies were brought to the surface and 26 illegal miners were rescued.
Reacting to the shocking loss of life, DA MP James Lorimer the party’s spokesperson on mineral and petroleum resources said: “The DA calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to immediately establish an independent Commission of Inquiry into all aspects of what happened at Buffelsfontein mine so that those who have been derelict in their duty can be sanctioned and so that the same situation does not occur again”.
Lorimer added: “With 60 bodies recovered from the Buffelsfontein mine so far, it is clear that the scale of the disaster equals the fears of many people.
“That prompts the question as to why the situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand.”
Lorimer said there were questions about the lack of police ability to establish the true situation underground, or worse, their knowledge which was neither made public nor acted on.
“It must be asked whether the police feel constrained by the rule of law or whether they are prepared to use vengeance and punishment as acceptable ways of fighting illegal mining,” Lorimer said.
“Illegal miners and their associated bosses and handlers have damaged South Africa’s economy and made life hell for tens of thousands of our people, but many low-level illegal miners are simply trying to scratch out a living and only performing an activity that is not even a crime under current law.
“There may be blame accruing to both the SAPS and the Department of Mineral and Energy Resources and because of this, they would not be the appropriate authorities to investigate this debacle”
Lorimer said the DA wants President Ramaphosa to immediately establish an inquiry while the situation was still fresh and before illegal miners and other witnesses were dispersed.
“Ten years ago, in the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, I started calling for stronger measures against illegal mining,” recalled Lorimer.
“Despite much talk, nothing substantial happened before the current security operation against illegal mining.
“Two examples of government dereliction of duty stand out.”
Lorimer said the government has, shamefully, still not made illegal mining a criminal offense; and ordinary police members have not had the investigative or specialist capacity, let alone the firepower, to get to grips with illegal mining, which is one of the reasons it has reached the large scale at which it now takes place.
“The DA intends to address both these instances in detail over the coming weeks,” Lorimer said.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts in Stilfontein resumed Wednesday morning.
