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Lily Mine inquest hears from alleged illegal miner
The inquest is looking into the 2016 deaths of Yvonne Mnisi, Solomon Nyerende and Pretty Nkambule. It will continue early on November 9.
The Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court heard on November 8 that illegal miners had allegedly used explosives on Lily Mine’s crown pillar the night before the 2016 tragedy, when a container disappeared into a sinkhole with three workers trapped inside.
The tragedy occurred on February 5, 2016. The bodies of the three workers, Yvonne Mnisi, Solomon Nyerende and Pretty Nkambule have not been recovered since.
It is presumed the three are deceased.
A witness known only as Mr X testified at the *inquest on November 8 that he had worked at Lily Mine both in a legal and illegal capacity.
He alleged that illegal miners had worked on the crown pillar, using explosives to tunnel into the pillar and extract gold the night before the collapse.
Allegedly, work by illegal miners had started on the pillar as early as 2014. He said they used rope ladders and scaffolding to access the crown pillar and created a tunnel into the pillar where they would crawl in on their stomachs to extract gold.
Mr X also alleged that Solomon Nyerende was part of the illegal mining operation and that he would sign off lamps to illegal miners, using the lamps of those workers who were on leave at the time.
Mr X said that another way they would enter the mines was to wear the uniforms of legal miners.
He alleged that the illegal miners knew the areas and shifts of all the legal workers and avoided them while conducting their illegal activities.
The court also heard the testimony of former Hi-Tech owner Johnny Kerswill, who said he had met with Lily Mine management on January 28, 2016, to give intelligence that explosives were being used by illegal miners inside Lily Mine.
He said while he was not tasked by Lily Mine to gather information and intelligence regarding illegal mining activity, he made sure to pass the intelligence he had gathered on to the mine’s management due to the seriousness of the situation, and because he felt he was committed to serving the community.
Kerswill said he had received intelligence from a reporter regarding explosives being used by illegal miners. He said the information was verified and confirmed, and he then reported it to Lily Mine.
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He said he was shocked when he learned of the collapse of the mine. He said he had warned the mine management regarding the use of explosives by illegal miners before the tragedy.
A former Lily Mine shift boss, Jacobus Potas, also testified on Monday.
He alleged that the crown pillar could be reached by illegal miners using ratholes and long rope ladders.
He alleged that the crown pillar could be reached by illegal miners using ratholes and long rope ladders.
Potas also said that while he had never seen illegal miners underground, he had been part of operations that had found their illegal equipment. He also alleged seeing three illegal miners running away on the surface of the mine during a raid a few years before the collapse.
The inquest was is set to continue with the testimony from Mr X on November 9 at 08:30.
*According to the Inquests Act 58 of 1959, an inquest is held in the case of a death or alleged death apparently occurring from other than natural causes and for matters incidental thereto. It is not a trial – there are no accused parties. The procedure seeks to determine the circumstances within which the Lily Mine tragedy had occurred. Lowvelder will attend the Lily Mine inquest proceedings throughout and report the versions of all parties called to testify.
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