ACTIONSA president Herman Mashaba has called for the prosecution of all those found fingered in the collapse of Lily Mine.
He said this during his visit to the families of the deceased on Tuesday, 24 October.
Mashaba's visit comes four days after the Nelspruit Magistrates Court handed down a judgment on the inquest that was established to determine who is liable for the 2016 incident in which three mine workers disappeared.
Pretty Nkambule (22), Solomon Nyirenda (37) and Yvonne Mnisi (30) were last seen inside a lamp room before it sunk underground when the mine collapsed seven years ago.
Delivering her judgment, Magistrate Annamarie Van Der Merwe said all the documents and evidence presented to the court show that the mine management was aware of the problem of illegal mining.
Van Der Merwe lashed the police and the Department of Mineral Resources for failing to assist the Lily Mine management in combating illegal mining and constructively addressing the problem, thereby failing their constitutional duties.
Van Der Merwe also declared the three mineworkers dead.
She said they died on the same day of the incident.
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Mashaba said no one can come up with excuses after the court judgment.
He said the notion that no one can be prosecuted because there are no bodies is no longer valid.
"Those found guilty of the Lily Mine disaster must be criminally prosecuted. As ActionSA, we want to hold them accountable. But more importantly, I want to ensure that these families get justice. We're going to have civil claims against everyone fingered in the judgment for being responsible in the tragedy that happened on 5 February 2016," said Mashaba.
He said that the civil claim is not about money, but about getting justice for the families.
"We're going to prepare the necessary papers with our lawyers, and we are not going to wait for our corrupt criminal justice because if we wait for them, we will wait for another seven years. The court judgment had proven beyond reasonable doubt that there was negligence by the owners and the state. We're going to institute civil claims to make sure that the families are compensated," he said.
At least R3 million has been spent on legal fees since Mashaba committed to assist the families three years ago.
The families’ spokesman, Harry Mazibuko, said the judgment paved the way forward for the families.
"The position of the families is only closure. They only want their loved ones to be found. This is a great step moving forward because we tried to engage with our government, and now we're expecting our government to intervene. But we don't trust them," he said.
