A worker died at Kusasalethu gold mine on Monday in what Harmony Gold described as a ‘engineering-related’ incident. His death follows a month after four workers died at the mine while also doing engineering safety maintenance.

According to Harmony Gold, the incident took place on Monday afternoon.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to those impacted by this loss-of-life. We are deeply saddened and very concerned by the frequency of incidents, particularly at this mine – it is unacceptable.

“A safety day was held at Kusasalethu today [Tuesday], where everyone – including the unions – reinforced safety messages and emphasised the importance of our safety and accountability values.

“Our priority at this stage is to support the families, colleagues and friends impacted by this tragedy and to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the reason for yet another incident,” says Peter Steenkamp, CEO of Harmony.

The relevant authorities have been informed and an investigation into the incident is currently underway.

In May, four workers who were part of a team of six, were killed while they were busy clearing an underground mud dam when a mud wall above them collapsed.