JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- As the number of deaths in the mining sector surpassed 60 in 2021, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) National Secretary for Health and Safety Sipho Mungwe expressed concern over the safety of the miners.
In the gold and coal industries, Mungwe said the fatalities are alarming after four mineworkers died in Rustenburg on Tuesday where they were trapped underground due to mudslides. On Monday, another miner was killed during underground drilling at the Impala platinum mine.
"The law requires that mine bosses must be prosecuted for the deaths. The NUM would also like to take this opportunity to convey condolences to all the bereaved families of the workers who died whilst on duty in the mines. As NUM we will not rest until the mines are no longer the killing fields for the mineworkers," Mungwe told Xinhua on Thursday.
He said that most of the deaths could have been avoided. He accused mines of prioritizing profits over people's lives.
"Technology could be used to ensure that these deaths do not happen, but mines choose not to use them because of costs," he said. "We must call on these CEOs to deploy enough time and resources to this initiative."
He said these increasing fatalities in the sector were a clear sign that there was no will to tackle and reduce the fatalities at all. Mungwe said with the season approaching where mines were set to close, it was clear that some of them were trying to increase production but at the expense of miners. Enditem