ActionSA gives Mantashe 60 days to create plan to retrieve Lily Mine victims’ bodies

JOHANNESBURG- ActionSA said it has given Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe a 60-day ultimatum to come up with a plan to retrieve the remains of the Lily Mine victims.

Three miners died in 2016 when a section of Lily Mine in Mpumalanga collapsed, trapping them underground.

Despite repeated calls by the families of Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi, and Solomon Nyirenda, their remains were never recovered.

In a letter dated 8 May to Mantashe, ActionSA said the slow pace to resolve the near decade-long issue is an insult to the families of the three victims.

The party said it had already secured permission from the business rescue practitioners to access the mine and engage mine rescue experts for proposals and quotations for the retrieval of Nkambule, Mnisi, and Nyirenda.

But the party said it suspended its independent plans to retrieve the container with the remains, hoping government would begin a process that would give the families closure.

After the 60-day deadline, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said the party will go ahead with its own plans.

An inquest into the incident found that the Department of Mineral Resources, police, and mineowners failed to prevent the tragedy.

Despite their complicity, no one has been charged.

After writing to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza calling for accountability, Mashaba said the wheels of justice are turning too slow.