Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says the number of illegal miners believed to be from Lesotho, who were reported dead at an old mine shaft last week could be over 31. The zama zamas were trapped at the Virginia Mine in the Free State in May. Mantashe briefed the media today at the mine in Welkom where the accident occurred. 

THERE COULD BE MORE PEOPLE TRAPPED 

A report of the incident was received by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) over the weekend from the Lesotho government. "Illegal miners are an attack on the economy, it's a terrible thing to happen but we are here today to confirm and look for ourselves to see what is happening. I want to emphasise that illegal mining is not mining activity, it is a criminal activity. They get into accidents and die in numbers. They suspect 31 bodies here but, I can tell you if we ultimately reach the area where they died, it will be more than 31. In Krugersdorp, we saw the death of 21 and in Gloria, we saw the death of 17," he said. The Minister added that in terms of behaviour of methane from the surface, there is movement underground and their suspicion is that there may be people who are still there. "And if there are people still there and methane explodes further, there may be additional deaths,' Mantashe said.

NOT AN EASY TASK

Mantashe explained that it would not be an easy task to retrieve the bodies that are trapped underground. "We have agreed to put our heads together to find a solution. We can't leave those bodies underground with our conscience. That is what we are working on but this is going to take a bit longer because there is no direct shaft that has a connection with this shaft. When we opened the shaft, we discovered that the shaft that has a tunnel to this shaft is sealed, not only on the surface but it has been filled up. So the problem is much bigger but we are going to confront that problem. It can take longer but we must take those bodies out. We have made that commitment," he said. Mantashe said the mine was closed in 1990 and they commend the previous owner, Harmony Gold Mining for doing rehabilitation. "There's something called concurrent rehabilitation. Any mine that is operational does not wait until it is a derelict mine to rehabilitate. Harmony has done a lot of work there, they have sealed a number of the shafts. But this one was blown open. It was sealed as well. The problem with that explosion is that it blows rehabilitation and that is where the problem is," he said.

WARNING TO ILLEGAL MINERS

Mantashe warned against illegal mining and the impact that it has on lives and the economy. "The basis of our engagement with the Lesotho government should be that there is a problem of a growing number of illegal miners, many of whom come heavily armed and therefore both the Lesotho and South African governments must have cooperation in dealing with that crisis. People move from Lesotho armed and appear underground with arms and from time to time, we incur casualties in that process. So that is the discussion we should have with the Lesotho government," he said.