'We were fortunate': Sibanye miners who were trapped underground brought to surface

“It was God’s grace that no one was injured.”

Those were the words of Semethe Bekane, one of the 260 miners who were trapped underground after an accident at Sibanye-Stillwater Kloof mine on Friday.

He said they were fortunate that the accident occurred while they were inside the mine levels. A mine level is a horizontal working horizon in a mine, often about 50 metres apart from a main shaft.

The shaft accident occurred at the company's Kloof sub-shaft on Thursday.

Bekane, who has been working at the mine for about 12 years, said when it happened, they could not see anything as the level was covered with dust for a few minutes. 

“If that thing happened while we were inside the lift [elevator], people could have died. We could have been telling another story. We got inside at 5am. We spent the whole day inside and the whole night without any food,” he said. 

Bekane is one of the miners who were stuck underground after the hoist system used to access a shaft was damaged in an accident. He was one of the first few miners to resurface on Friday afternoon.

“We were afraid because we didn’t know if we would be able to get out or not. We were hungry, tired and without food, and we couldn’t communicate with the management,” he added. 

One of the miners who did not want to be named said it was very dark inside as the the electricity had been knocked out in the accident. 

“We were afraid, but not that much. We were in a safe place. I think all those who are still inside will be retrieved. It may not be now, but they will resurface,” he said. 

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) national chairperson of health and safety Duncan Luvuno said rescued miners were receiving counselling. 

Sibanye-Stillwater confirmed the incident on Friday morning. It said in a statement it had actively implemented its safety and shaft examination procedures.

The company said once these were completed, they would begin hoisting employees to the surface. “All 260 employees have been accounted for, are safe and have been provided with food,” it said.

Luvuno confirmed that all miners were not injured. He said it was unfortunate that the incident occurred on Thursday morning but the union heard about it at about 2pm. 

“It is unfortunate that Sibanye always tries to cover up accidents. It indicates that there is no transparency and the arrogance is continuing,” he said. 

He added that miners were being hoisted from the layers depending on the level. “I think in four hours, all of them would have been retrieved. Remember, some of them are on the lowest levels, and I think that might delay the process, but there is progress,” he said. 

In an earlier statement, Sibanye said initial investigations showed that the Kloof 7 sub-shaft rock winder skip door had opened at the loading point on level 39, affecting levels 40 and 41 below.

“The open door of the skip caused some damage at level 35, and the work to make this safe has been completed,” it said.

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