Rescued miner says he fears for workers’ lives

A mineworker rescued from Sibanye-Stillwater's Beatrix mine in the Free State said he fears for mineworkers’ safety when mining operations resumed on Friday.

Phakiso Nanyane‚ who was one of the 950 miners rescued when they were trapped underground for about 30 hours after a power failure‚ complained about the mine's response for medical attention and food. “The medical attention was poor. The food also came late and only about a quarter of the people ate. It was a dangerous situation. It was difficult. It’s not something we are used to‚" Nanyane said during an interview on the SABC's Morning Live show.

He claimed this was the second time that such an incident had occurred.

"The problem is that management could not foresee it. The first time we went in at night. We only came out the next morning at around 11am. Now we went in at 10pm [on Wednesday] we are only coming out now on Friday. We ask ourselves‚ what will happen if this continues‚” Nanyane said.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) chairperson at the mine‚ Koloi Tisa‚ also raised concerns. “Safety is a serious issue because‚ when people are trapped underground‚ the escape route from where they were trapped at [shaft three] to shaft two is a very long distance. I agree with the employees that their safety is at risk‚” said Tisa.

The generators meant to kick in during a power outage are said to be ineffective.

“We have realised - and everybody can agree - that the generators we have here are not effective. Because the first generator couldn’t take the weight‚ it tripped. That means there is no maintenance on these generators‚” Tisa said.

The mine had on Thursday told TimesLIVE that the power outage was caused by a severe storm which hit the province on Wednesday‚ damaging Eskom’s power lines.

TimesLIVE is awaiting comment from the mine on the efficiency of the generators.