Lead researcher at the Bench Marks Foundation, David van Wyk says mining companies should to be held accountable for tragedies that occur at unsecured, abandoned mines.
This follows the deadly gas leak incident in which killed 17 people died at the Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Eleven others were hospitalised in an incident which has been linked to illegal mining.
Government has acknowledge the dangers that illegal mining causes in South Africa.
Van Wyk says old mines should be re-purposed for good use.
“We keep on saying we must use the military and the police but that’s not their problem. It is a problem of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy that’s not actually dong its work in making sure that mines are repurposed for other use such as schools, clinics, hospitals. A variety of other facilities could have been use by local govt and could have overcome the housing crisis,” adds Van Wyk.
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