YET another miner has died at the Sibanye’s Stillwater’s mine near Carletonville, in the Westrand.
The miner was allegedly crushed by a gold box at the Masakhane Shaft at its Driefontein Operation.
This latest incident comes not long after two miners died at the very same mine two weeks ago.
According to reports, it is alleged the box fell after blasting caused it to come loose and fall on the deceased worker on Monday.
The body was recovered in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Over the past few weeks, Sibanye has made headlines, but not for the right reasons.
This latest accident is the third fatality this month after two mineworkers were killed at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Kloof operations due to a fall of ground, only last week.
Another incident happened at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Beatrix Operations in the Free State, where more than a thousand workers were trapped due to a power failure.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) said it is concerned about the safety standards and contingency plans in place at Sibanye-Stillwater.
AMCU further said, what is even of greater concern to them, is the lacking communication from Sibanye-Stillwater to stakeholders once incidents take place, leaving AMCU to rely solely on its regional leadership structures to get information.
AMCU sent condolences to the family and co-workers of the deceased mineworker.
The Union’s President Joseph Mathunjwa said in a statement, "AMCU sends heartfelt condolences to the family, co-workers and loved ones of the perished worker. Our prayers are with them during this trying time."
AMCU shall continue to campaign that the lives of mineworkers are handled with the respect and care required.
“We cannot allow workers to be sacrificed due to the narrow profit-driven interests of the mining bosses,” he said.
Sibanye spokesman, James Wellsted said investigations into the incident by Sibanye-Stillwater management together with the Department of Mineral Resources and other relevant stakeholders are underway.