South Africa: Death, Injury Rates Soar In 'stressed' Gold Mines

South Africa: Death, Injury Rates Soar in 'Stressed' Gold Mines

Business Day (Johannesburg)

30th January 2007

Fatalities in the gold-mining sector had worsened, with mining houses seeking to cash in on a robust gold price by revisiting disused parts of their mines, Parliament's minerals and energy affairs committee heard yesterday.

The issue will also be highlighted at next month's indaba on mine health and safety.

The indaba was called by Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica after the October disaster at AngloGold Ashanti's Tau Tona mine near Carletonville when five mineworkers died in a rockfall.

At the time Sonjica said the number of fatalities in the gold-mining industry was "unacceptable".

Mining Health and Safety Council acting chairman Mthokozisi Zondi told the committee that while there was a 26% drop in mining fatalities in the platinum sector in 2005-06, gold mining's figures worsened.

The council is a tripartite body representing government, labour and employers and is tasked with advising the minister on health and safety matters.

"We have a very old gold-mining sector and are mining areas that are highly stressed," he said.

Acting chief inspector of mines in the minerals and energy department Thabo Gazi said that while the gold-mining sector employed 35% (155165) of all mineworkers, it was responsible for 51% (104 of the total of 202) fatalities in 2005-06 and 56% of all injuries (2324 of 3966).

Gazi said the same regressive trend was evident in the gold sector again in 2006-07. The steady deterioration in the gold sector's fatality performance was undermining the effort to bring SA's safety record in line with international standards set by Canada, Australia and America.

Government's aim was to eliminate all gold-mining deaths by 2013, but this would require a 20% reduction in the fatality rate each year, Gazi said.

The performance in 2005-06 was only a 16% reduction in the fatality rate from 0,25 deaths per million hours worked in 2004 to 0,21 in 2005 because of the gold sector.

All other mining sectors, such as platinum, diamond and coal, had shown an improvement.

Gazi also said that with commodity prices going up, mining houses had revisited dangerous mines. "The improvement in the economy comes at a cost of human lives."

Injury rates had also climbed as the mining industry turned towards mechanisation, he said.

Other challenges facing the inspectorate were the loss of personnel. The department's safety unit lost 75% of its top managers in one year to the private sector.

Rising water levels in some closed mines in Gauteng could lead to disasters in neighbouring mines, Gazi warned.

National Union of Mineworkers national secretary for health and safety Eric Gcilitshana said he was concerned about the slow pace of delivery of family housing units for mineworkers living in single-sex hostels.

At the present rate of delivery it was unlikely the industry would meet its targets to have all workers living in family units or in townships by 2013, he said.