The Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, has been underground to the site of the incident in which nine mineworkers lost their lives at Impala Platinum's 14 Shaft in North West province.
Minister Shabangu was accompanied by the Director-General of her department, Advocate Sandile Nogcina, as well as mine inspectors, the Chief Executive Officer of Impala Platinum, David Brown, and representatives of the National Union of Mineworkers.
Minister Shabangu said: "Firstly, I want to express our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the nine workers who lost their lives in this tragic incident. "We went underground today to see for ourselves the conditions and circumstances under which the mineworkers perished," she said.
"We have interacted with the mine management and workers' representatives in an effort to appraise ourselves of the situation.
"Our mine inspectors will continue with their investigations and we will then, in terms of the law, consider any necessary steps on the basis of the report of the Chief Inspector of Mines.
"Having said that, mine safety is a key priority for the Department of Mineral Resources and we will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders as we move to improve our safety record," said Minister Shabangu.
In case of enquiries, please contact:
Jeremy Michaels
Ministry and Department of Mineral Resources: Head of Communications
Cell: 082 772 1122
E-mail: jeremy.michaels@dme.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
21 July 2009
