Fewer mining fatalities but union wants CEO arrests

There is some good news coming out of the statistics released last week by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on fatalities and accidents in SA’s mining sector, writes Legalbrief. DMR chief inspector David Msiza said following the notable regression of mine health and safety in 2017, when 90 mineworkers died, there were 10% fewer fatalities – 81 – in 2018, reports Mining Weekly. As health and safety is integral to the long-term sustainability of the mining sector, Msiza said the DMR remained hopeful that the improvement in 2018 signalled a ‘much-needed turnaround in fatalities and that mines would continue to prioritise this issue moving forward’. Inquiries into each of the disasters are under way to assess the root causes and identify the necessary remedial action, Msiza said. To date this year, only five fatalities have been reported, compared with 14 during the same period in 2018. This, Msiza noted, translates into an improvement of 69% year-on-year.

Forty workers were killed in accidents in gold mines – almost half of the total 81 lives lost in mines across the country, reports City Press. Platinum mines were still the second-largest contributor to fatal accidents, with 12 deaths, but this was at least less than 2017’s toll of 29 lives lost. The report says the company with the most to answer for is Sibanye Stillwater, which saw two mining disasters at its operations last year. The Palabora Mining Company, SA’s only copper miner, also had a disaster when six workers were killed in an explosion in July. Other accidents in mines leading to injuries but not deaths decreased last year by 12% to 2 350.

The mining industry has also recorded a 3% decrease in the total number of occupational diseases reported nationally for 2017 compared with the previous year. ‘We are sure that one reason for the improvement is the effectiveness of the Masoyise iTB campaign, where government, organised labour and the industry are working closely to increase screening and testing for tuberculosis and HIV not only among employees but also in the communities where they live,’ the Minerals Council is quoted in a Fin24 report as saying. Mine workers are at a higher risk of contracting TB due to prolonged exposure to silica dust, poor living conditions, and high HIV prevalence in mining communities. In 2016, TB incidence in the SA mining industry was 900 cases per 100 000 of the work-force, down from 1 200 cases per 100 000 in 2013. This is still higher than SA’s general TB incidence rate which was 781 cases per 100 000 people in 2016. The report says the industry has set itself the target of being at or below the SA TB incidence by 2024.

Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has, meanwhile shrugged off calls for the government to arrest mine bosses for fatalities. According to Business Report, Joseph Mathunjwa, the president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, called on Mantashe to work with the union in amending the Mine Health and Safety Act. ‘Every mine that kills a worker – their CEO must be put behind bars. They must be prosecuted. They (companies) take short cuts on the Mine Health and Safety Act. Sibanye-Stillwater has killed 21 breadwinners, and the government has not raised a finger,’ said Mathunjwa.