Anger is growing over the handling of the incident, as well as the failure to pay more than 1,200 workers. The situation has moved beyond a workplace dispute and should now be treated as a criminal matter, Numsa said.

Kimberley detectives are investigating an inquest after the bodies of the last two men were recovered from the mine in Kimberley on Monday (23/3). Mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe has called for a full investigation into the tragedy.

The remains of one miner were found about two weeks ago after the group was trapped in a mudslide. The men were trapped 890m underground since a mud rush incident on Tuesday, 17 February.

“We urgently request that the investigation process start now, and then the CEO must also be urgently arrested because this is a crime scene,” said Numsa Kimberley organiser Lerato Mohatlane. “We can no longer call it a mine.

“So as you know, on 17 April, we will all be going to court to object to this liquidation process. And we are happy that we are starting to get numbers behind us.”

Parliament is also going to oppose this application, and they are going to make sure the CEO is indeed arrested, he said.

Northern Cape police spokesperson Cherelle Ehlers confirmed Kimberley detectives are investigating an inquest following the recovery of the remaining bodies of two men. “The investigation continues.”

The mine had applied for liquidation and closed on Wednesday, 25 February, with immediate effect.

The decision was not taken lightly, it said, but was considered in the best interests of all stakeholders. It cited operational, financial, and safety factors as reasons.

More than a thousand workers have lost their jobs and have not been paid their February salaries due to the liquidation. The mine will be under provisional liquidation until Friday, 17 April, when legal proceedings continue in the High Court sitting in Kimberley.

Numsa maintains the disaster could have been avoided. “We believe that all this could have been avoided if only this mine could have listened,” said Mohatlane.

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OFM News/Zenande Mpame sm