ActionSA has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions Mpumalanga, Advocate Moonsamy, to provide an update on his consideration of the inquest in the Lily Mine Tragedy and whether the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will be launching criminal proceedings as recommended by the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court Inquest ruling.

When I visited Lily Mine at the end of October, I received Power of Attorney from the families of Solomon Nyirenda, Pretty Nkambule and Yvonne Mnisi – who were engulfed by a sinkhole at Lily Mine in February 2016 – to pursue civil and criminal litigation against the parties found liable. At the time, I promised the families that ActionSA would do everything within its power to ensure justice for the victims’ families.

The move to write to DPP Moonsamy is in line with this commitment to the three families. If the NPA does not institute charges, ActionSA will approach the NPA to get Nolle Prosequi to possibly launch our own private prosecution as part of our commitment to achieve accountability for those found liable.

ActionSA has furthermore written to the Business Rescue Practitioner, Mr RC Devereux, to request that there be no further delays to the implementation of the business rescue plan which would see mining activity at the mine be relaunched which would help to retrieve the three miners’ bodies. We also requested that he provide all role players with an updated report on the implementation of the business rescue plan.

The Constitutional Court has already refused to grant Vantage Goldfield’s leave to appeal a ruling which determined that the adopted Business Rescue Plan and amendments thereto should be submitted to creditors for a decision. ActionSA believes that the business plan should therefore urgently be tabled to creditors for implementation.

ActionSA remains resolute in our commitment to help retrieve the bodies of the three miners and will continue to assist the families in any way possible. We cannot allow people to forget what happened at Lily Mine on 5 February 2016, and we need to ensure justice for the miners and their families.