Operations have been suspended at the affected Mponeng mine.
Picture: Harmony mine website
Harmony Gold Mining Company said it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the eighth on-duty death to occur across the group in 2026.
In a note to shareholders on Tuesday, Harmony said one of its employees died after “a seismic event in an underground working area” on Monday, 14 September 2026, at the Mponeng mine in the West Rand of Gauteng.
This is at least the eighth on-duty death to happen this year alone, according to information The Citizen could find on the company’s website. This is fewer than the 10 on-duty deaths that the company had already experienced in the first six months of 2025.
‘Seismic event’ causes death
Without making more details known about the “seismic event”, the company told shareholders that operations have been suspended in the affected area of Mponeng mine while investigations are underway. This is the third death at the Mponeng mine.
“Work in the affected area has been suspended while a thorough investigation is conducted to determine the circumstances and identify any additional measures needed to strengthen safety controls and risk management practices,” said Harmony.
Two employees lost their lives at the mine on 24 May 2026 in a “shaft engineering‑related incident”. After these deaths, Harmony said, “We are committed to fully understanding the circumstances of this incident, learning from it, and doing everything possible to prevent a recurrence.”
Deaths follow despite safety promise
Harmony was founded in the 1950s in the Free State and is the country’s largest gold producer by volume. It operates at least 10 mines across South Africa.
All of the announcements about the on-duty deaths read the same: A promise that safety remains a priority, investigations to understand how the deaths happened, and support offered to other employees and affected families.
Head of investor relations at Harmony, Jared Coetzer, told The Citizen that “the status of these investigations varies, with some having been completed and others still progressing through review and regulatory processes.”
“To avoid prejudicing any ongoing investigations, we are unable to comment on specific findings before they have been finalised. Our focus remains on understanding what happened, identifying any contributing factors, and implementing measures aimed at preventing a recurrence.”
‘Safety remains a priority’
He added that all they can say about deaths is “that each incident is investigated comprehensively, that lessons identified are acted upon as a matter of priority, and that we continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to improve safety performance across our operations.”
When asked what safety measures have been implemented, Coetzer said: “Safety remains Harmony’s foremost priority, and we continue to take decisive action across all operations to strengthen risk management and prevent repeat incidents.
“Harmony has implemented a range of safety measures across its underground and surface operations, with an increased focus on preventing loss of life incidents and zero harm. These measures include stronger leadership engagement at workplaces, continuous learning from incidents, strengthened critical control management, enhanced frontline risk assessments, improved workplace hazard identification, ongoing training and development and continuous learning from every incident and high-potential event.
“At management level, safety performance forms part of the company’s accountability framework and leadership scorecards, with remuneration linked to measures including workplace hazard ratings, loss-of-life critical control checks and lagging indicators such as lost-time injury frequency rate (LTIFR). Safety performance is reviewed at both operational and executive level, with incidents and high-potential events used to strengthen controls and prevent recurrence.
“While the company has made progress in reducing injuries, including achieving its lowest-ever LTIFR of 5.05 per million hours worked, losses of life remain unacceptable. We recognise that more work is required. Our focus remains on prioritising safety ahead of production, strengthening accountability at every level, and working in partnership with employees, organised labour, regulators and other stakeholders to eliminate loss of life and create safer workplaces for all.”
Two deaths in one month
The on-duty death at Mponeng mine is the second death to happen across the Harmony group in September 2026.
On 7 September, the company released another note announcing the death of an employee at its Moab Khotsong mine, near Orkney.
The employee lost his life on 6 September 2026, marking the third on-duty death at the Moab Khotsong mine this year.
The first death was on 20 January 2026, with the company saying the employee “lost his life in a locomotive-related incident”. No further details were made public; however, the company said employee safety remains a priority.
The second death at the Moab Khotsong mine occurred on 19 June 2026. Harmony said the employee lost his life in a “seismicity-related fall-of-ground incident”. The company also promised safety after the death.
Female miner dies on duty
The group released another note announcing the death of a female miner who died on 19 July 2026 at the TauTona service shaft, near Carletonville.
This note read like other announcements, with no explanation of what happened and a promise to strengthen safety.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. We are working with the Department of Mineral Resources and Petroleum (DMPR) and other stakeholders to understand what happened, ensure that lessons are learned and urgently applied, and strengthen our efforts to prevent such incidents from ever happening again,” said group CEO Beyers Nel.
Free State miner dies
Harmony announced the death of another employee on 26 March 2026. The company said this death follows a “tragic underground incident involving rock-breaking equipment”.
The employee died at Harmony’s Target 1 mine near Odendaalsrus in the Free State.
“The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities, and an investigation is underway, led by the DMPR, with the company’s full cooperation,” said Harmony.
“The safety and well-being of our people is fundamental to who we are, and we will honour our colleague’s memory by rigorously understanding what went wrong and strengthening our controls to prevent any recurrence.”
