Five years after their loved ones were trapped underground in a mine, families of three deceased mineworkers have yet to recover the lost workers for a proper burial, APA learnt on Tuesday.
Camping outside the mine’s premises at Louisville near Barberton in Mpumalanga province for the past 1,000 days, the families said they would keep vigil until the remains of their loved ones are brought to the surface.
Mineworkers Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Nkambule and Solomon Nyirenda were working inside a container when the ground underneath the vessel caved in after the mine collapsed in February 2016, according to the families’ spokesperson Henry Mazibuko.
“We are marking one thousand days,” Mazibuko said.
He added: “Remember, on our arrival, we said we’re going nowhere until there is a solution – a way forward. The process starts with retrieving the container. That has not been done. That’s why we have been here. We’re not just saying it. We meant it.”
He said the families are determined to stay another 1,000 years “as long there is no solution.”
NM/jn/APA