Investigate Sibanye for attempted murder charges‚ says parliament committee

Parliament's portfolio committee on mineral resources on Friday welcomed the successful rescue of hundreds of mine workers‚ but said it still wants tough action to be taken against the company.

About 950 miners were returned to the surface on Friday after being stuck underground at Sibanye-Stillwater's Beatrix mine. The incident was caused by a power outage.

“We would like to extend our appreciation to Eskom engineers who worked tirelessly to restore power. However‚ this good news will not absolve the mine management from being held accountable‚” said committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo.

The committee earlier said Sibanye should have had a backup plan to prevent the incident from occurring.

The committee urged the Department of Mineral Resources to take drastic action‚ including possibly laying criminal charges against the management of the company for attempted murder.

Luzipo said the Department of Mineral Resources also had questions to answer‚ including how its safety inspectors had failed to notice the absence of an adequate backup system.