Relatives of miner injured at Implats mine in the dark about his condition

Relatives of a man who was critically injured at Shaft 11 at Impala Platinum in Rustenburg on Monday are anxiously awaiting news on his condition.

Someleze Matywebe was one of the 86 mineworkers affected when the personnel conveyance hoisting the employees to surface at the end of their shift unexpectedly started descending.

It reportedly descended at rapid speed and stopped by the conveyance counterweight, becoming trapped by the jack catches.

When TimesLIVE Premium arrived at Freedom Park, an informal settlement outside Rustenburg that houses some of the Implats employees, his relatives said they were concerned for his wellbeing.

“We don’t yet know if he’s doing well. We’re waiting for feedback. We hope he heals and come home. We’ve never seen anything like this before, it’s like a nightmare.

“We struggled to sleep because we couldn’t understand what happened,” said the relative, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation as he also works at the mine.

He said they had never suspected that the belt had a fault. “We’ve never felt unsafe on the belt before, it’s not something we thought of. It’s the first time something like this happened.

“His shift ended (at 1pm) and he took overtime, that’s when this thing happened,” said the relative. Matywebe is said to be from Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape.

“He has five kids and a wife back home. We haven’t been able to update them because we’re not sure how he’s doing. They don’t know he’s one of them yet,” he said.

A miner who asked not to be named said that he was scared to go back to work.

“We don’t know what to expect now. You can’t not be scared, but I don’t have a choice, my money is down there. There’s no other way to get down there, we use the lift as the only way, so they have to fix it first.

“We’re going to work tomorrow, so we will find out if we are back on shift or not. But so far we don’t have any clarity. Most of the injured people are from Eastern Cape from what I heard.”

Another employee who spoke on condition of anonymity said safety was an issue after the incident. 

"This accident has shaken us, and we do not know whether we will also suffer the fate of our colleagues, because we have never seen an accident of this magnitude at Implats. However, we will continue to work because we rely on the mine for our livelihoods," said the mineworker. 

Another said: "We are not safe, however, we will return to work."

By Tuesday afternoon the company said 75 employees remained in hospital, 14 of whom are in a critical condition. 

Before the accident, there had been 41 fatalities in the mining industry in 2023. The mining industry's ambition is zero harm, with a record 49 fatalities in 2022, down from 74 fatalities a year before. 

Implats CEO Nico Muller said on Tuesday the accident is under investigation. He said the mechanisms used to operate the conveyance system, and the safety protocols involved in arresting falls in such systems are known to be safe and are used in mining operations globally.  

"The failure of the arrest safety protocol is therefore unusual, highlighting the tragic nature of this accident. While we have a strong understanding of what happened yesterday, we are still investigating how it could have happened, and the answer to that question and other concerns may take some time to accurately establish. We are working closely with the relevant authorities and will provide additional updates when possible and appropriate," he said. 

Speaking at the mine, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa called for harsh sanctions for mine managers and the amendment of mine laws as a result of the accident. 

"We want these company bosses to be really accountable, especially to be charged with culpable homicide because some of these accidents are repeated cases. It is an accident that could have been avoided," he said. Mathunjwa said Amcu has been calling for the amendment of the Mine Health and Safety Act. 

"I believe this mechanical fault that led to this accident could have been addressed, there is a shortcoming somewhere. I am not a fundi, but these lifts have to be serviced and checked regularly, for a lift of this magnitude to fail and have 11 people die, if I was the president of this country, heads would roll," said Mathunjwa. 

Muller said investigations into the incident will continue until all possible causes are identified and mitigating actions will be implemented group-wide to prevent another accident of this nature. 

"Should any human error or negligence be found to have contributed to this tragedy, we will act firmly and decisively," Muller said.