Mr Corrie Hallet, former human resource manager of Lily Mine and Barbrook, looks on while Mr Mandla Mawhayi addresses premier, Mr David Mabuza.
LOUISVILLE – The Mpumalanga Economic and Growth Agency (MEGA) intends to buy into Lily Mine.
A delegation from MEGA met with Vantage Goldfields management to discuss the issue two weeks ago.
On Thursday the premier, Mr David Mabuza, told residents of Louisville, near Lily Mine, that the meeting was”MEGA wants to buy a stake in the mine. They are negotiating with management and I was told that the meeting went well,” he said.
Mabuza said government needed to mine mineral resources instead of depending on international mining corporations.
“The minerals are yours, but you can’t do it yourself. You wait for someone to come dig and make profit. This must change. Our people must also mine. The government too. It is not a miracle, and we cannot be at the mercy of big companies,” he said.
Following the collapse at Lily Mine in 2016, it and its sister mine, Barbrook, have been placed under business rescue. More than 800 workers have been affected by the closure.
“(The mine owners) are capitalists and they work for profit. If they can’t make profits they leave. Our grandfathers sold their labour for payments as miners. We cannot do the same,” Mabuza said.
An enquiry into the cause of the collapse, set up by the Department of Mineral Resources, started in Mbombela in the beginning of March.
Mabuza was scheduled to meet with the minister of mineral resources Mr Mosebenzi Zwane on two weeks back, to discuss government intervention to fast track the recovery of the three miners trapped.
“There are souls that need to be extracted from the pit. Our people will be found, and we will make sure that it happens,” he said.
He added that the poverty in the area was shocking. “After our visit to the area, we were appalled by the living conditions. The biggest problem is unemployment. I’m also not happy with housing and basic service delivery and roads,” Mabuza said.
A resident, Mr Mandla Mawhayi, told Mabuza they needed business opportunities. “We ask you as the premier to help us get jobs,” Mawhayi said.
The premier said the area will receive a special allocation from the provincial government in the 2017/18 financial year.
He added that they were committed to building 1 000 RDP houses and promised to immediately start providing transport to schoolchildren who had to walk long distances to reach schools.
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