Lily Mine tragedy: This is why ActionSA is considering court action against NPA's Shamila Batohi
After years of inaction, ActionSA demands the retrieval of three miners' bodies
Image: Phill Magakoe/IOL
ActionSA is mulling taking National Prosecuting Authority head Shamila Batohi to court after she allegedly ignored a court order to pursue criminal charges against the Lily Mine owners, senior officials in the minerals and energy department, and Barberton police officers.
The move comes nearly a decade after the Lily Mine tragedy, in which three workers — Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi, and Solomon Nyirenda — died when a container collapsed inside the mine.
Since the incident, the families of the three victims have camped outside the mine, seeking only the retrieval of their loved ones as the bodies remain trapped.
The collapse occurred in 2016.
The crown pillar located between the roof of level three and four underground collapsed and caved into the old underground workings of the mine.
As a result, the lamp room, which was part of the surface infrastructure also fell in and was buried under the rubble.
Seventy-six employees were also trapped underground and were subsequently rescued through a narrow ventilation shaft.
An inquest, which took place at the Bombela Magistrate Court, Mpumalanga, in 2023, said the tragedy was preventable.
Senior Magistrate A. Van Der Merwe said in her findings on October 19 2023 that “for the administration of justice to be complete and to instil confidence, it is necessary that, amongst other things, there should be an official investigation in every case where a person has died of unnatural causes, and the result of such investigation should be made known".
She added: "Therefore, the Inquests Act provides that, if there is reason to believe that a death has occurred, that such a death was not due to natural causes and that it was not followed by the institution of criminal proceedings, there shall be an inquest as to the circumstances of the death.
"Upon consideration of the evidence received during the course of the proceedings, though no bodies have been recovered, the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the three deaths have occurred.”
Despite the magistrate’s findings, criminal charges have yet to be pursued.
ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba said the delay undermines justice for the victims’ families, who have been waiting for accountability for nearly 10 years.
"I just want to remind South Africans about this tragedy," Mashaba said.
"Remember the mine owners and our government initially lied that the container is irretrievable.
"It took ActionSA's legal intervention to expose such lies.
"I just want to assure South Africans that the uncaring ANC and their GNU partners that ActionSA will never give up until that container is retrieved."
IOL News