The minister of mineral resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, Mpumalanga premier, David Mabuza, and Vantage Goldfields management held a meeting with the families of the three miners trapped in Lily Mine, as well as the community and employees of the mine.
The meeting took place on Monday at Thusong Centre near Low’s Creek.
According to Zwane, the purpose of the visit was to interact with the community and to hear them out.
“The process has been long, and people are losing their jobs, so they wanted to know the way forward. The premier has brought solutions on how to deal with issues of poverty while waiting for investors to come.”
Mabuza said he would look at a number of projects, and will go back to the employees of the mine and the community after the State of the Province Address.
CEO of Vantage Goldfields, Mike McChesney, said after the meeting he truly felt that it was a watershed day. “I have confidence in the future now that we effectively have the support of local as well as national government.
“The premier handled the meeting extremely well and committed to his personal involvement in bringing these challenges to a close.”
Last year on February 5 a shaft at the main entrance to the mine collapsed. Ninety mine workers were trapped underground. Eighty-seven were rescued, but three remained underground. Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Nkambule and Solomon Nyarende were in a lamp-room container which fell into a sinkhole created by a collapsed crown pillar. The search was stopped when the mine ran out of money.

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After the accident, Zwane said the families of the trapped miners would receive R200 000 each, and each of the miners who were rescued would receive
R50 000. The company is in business rescue, which means it cannot function as insolvent.

“The money that the people were promised and owed cannot be paid at this moment. They have recommitted themselves that once they have an investor, they will also pay the salaries. We understand their position, and once they are in this state there is little that can be done. Our message to the public is that let us pull through these difficult times.

The company and the premier will both try to make sure that in the meantime something can be done. We understand that people must eat. This is why we are doing all this.”
Although no funds have been secured to date, management has also requested that everyone remains patient.
“Vantage honours its commitment to continue with the raising of funds. Their main goal is still to get the people back to work as soon as possible. Every effort will also be put in as far as the retrieval of the bodies of the three miners. Discussions with prospective investors are still going strong. All in all, it has been a very positive day,” said McChesney.

Also read:Missing miners’ loved ones face daily struggle

After the meeting with the public and employees, a closed one was held with the families of the three miners.
When Barberton Times visited the family members of the miners, they said retrieving the lamp room is their primary concern.
They emphasised that they do not want to talk about money.
“We just want our children, and everyone keeps asking us about money, but our focus is still our kids. We believe they can still be found. As the families, we do not want to continue talking about the accident because when we do some people end up saying things that we did not say.”
On Friday February 3 a day before the one-year commemoration of the accident Lily and Barbrook miners and residents of Louisville took to the R38 demanding that Lily Mine management resume the rescue mission for their trapped colleagues.
The protesters’ anger was intensified by the one-year anniversary of the accident, and the fact that the mine wanted to host a remembrance service which was later cancelled.