The National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) has absolved itself from the responsibility of handling the recovery of three workers at the Lily Mine in Barberton, who were buried alive in a container in 2016.
On February 5, 2016 three miners were left trapped underground after the surface ground, along with a shipping container that the miners used as a lamp room, caved into mine at the Lily Mine in Mpumalanga.
The NPA’s advocate Rodney de Kock told Parliament yesterday that the NPA would not commit itself to the recovery of the bodies of Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule after the Congress of Trade Unions (Cosatu) recently called for more state effort in recovering the bodies.
“This is not an issue the NPA can comment on. If there are any questions on the recovery of the bodies, the matter should be directed to the SAPS or the mine management. We are only involved at the level of the inquest to establish the circumstances leading to the deaths,” De Kock said.
The sticking point for the State in the question of who bears the responsibility for the tragedy centres around the pending claims to be made by relatives of the victims who have since the incident set up camp outside the mine to pressure for the recovery of the bodies.
The families have set up camp since 2019 to draw attention to one of the worst mining tragedies in recent South African mining history, when a a key support pillar collapsed at the Lily Mine.
Following the tragedy, three mining companies – Vantage Goldfields Limited (VGL), Barbrook and Mimco, which owns the Lily mine – were placed under business rescue.
A magisterial inquiry, whose findings will be made in 2023, heard testimony that zama zamas had infiltrated the mine and illegally chipped away at the crown pillar, which contributed to the collapse of the ground above.
Two groups are duelling for control of the mines: Australian group Macquarie Metals, which in 2020 acquired 98% of Vantage’s parent company, VGL; and Arqomanzi, which has the backing of Hong Kong-based Alpha Capital and the Industrial Development Corporation.
The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) had accepted the Macquarie Metals offer to settle creditors’ claims of R212 million and commence sinking a decline shaft at the mine to retrieve the bodies of the buried workers.
Arqomanzi became the largest creditor in Vantage Goldfields SA (VGSA) when it acquired loan claims of R391m and R189m in Vantage Goldfields and Barbrook, respectively.
Arqomanzi successfully interdicted the implementation of the business rescue plan in court, arguing that it was shut out as the largest creditor.
The Mpumalanga High Court declared that Arqomanzi was a valid creditor and the BRPs cannot unilaterally amend a business rescue process without creditor approval, specifically the approval of the largest creditor, Arqomanzi.
One of the BRPs said there was little the BRPs could do to rescue the mine, while the legal process between Vantage and Arqomanzi was unresolved.
Both sides are disputing the other’s proof of funding.
“The BRPs received documentation from both parties alleging proof of funding for the respective transactions, and the BRPs requested these funds to be paid into a trust account. Both parties rejected this and stated that the BRPs would have to wait for the outcome of the court’s decision,” the BRPs wrote in a memo to creditors in August.
BUSINESS REPORT