The process of retrieving the bodies of illegal miners at the Virginia Mine’s number 5 Shaft in the Free State is on hold until the levels of methane gas underground have been stabilised.
Last month, three bodies of illegal miners were brought to the surface after an underground explosion at the disused mine shaft.
Thirty-one bodies believed to be of Lesotho nationals are still trapped underground, but the number could still rise.
Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, says it will take time before the bodies can be retrieved.
Mantashe visited the site where the incident occurred, together with officials from the department and the mine management.
“Now, we are having a new external intervention to that of illegal miners, which is not a mining activity. It’s a criminal activity. Illegal mining is not an activity; it’s a criminal activity.”
Mantashe says the problem of illegal mining is a national challenge as illegal miners take advantage of disused mines.
“Now, they get into an accident in numbers, there’s suspected 31. I can tell you if you ultimately reach that area, (you) will find more than 31. In Krugersdorp, we saw the death of 21. In Gloria, we saw the death of 17. Those numbers vary from mine to mine.”
Member of the National Association of Artisanal Miners, Randall Oosthuizen, has called on government to issue them with permits.
“We are calling today on comrade Gwede Mantashe, our minister, to say that they must speed up the process of legalizing and formalizing small-scale miners in South Africa.”
Mantashe says the governments of Lesotho and South Africa must come up with ways of dealing with the illegal mining problem.
Police probing deaths of 31 miners at disused mine in Free State:
Meanwhile, the National Association for Artisanal Miners in the Free State has called for the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy to expedite the issuing of licenses for small-scale miners.
Randall Oosthuizen, a member of the National Association for Artisanal Miners, says they are being disadvantaged.
He said, “We are calling today on Comrade Gwede Mantashe, our Minister, to say that they must speed up the process of legalizing and formalizing small-scale miners in South Africa.”
