SIX years after they died, the families of the three Lily miners are still waiting for their bodies to be recovered.
The bodies of Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule have been trapped underground at a mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga, since 2016.
On Tuesday, 21 June ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba led a picket in front of the Tshwane offices of the mineral resources department, demanding that the bodies be retrieved.
The miners’ family members also took part. A memorandum was handed over to the department.
Mashaba said his party was fighting for social justice and the rights of South Africans.
He warned Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe that they would not rest until the matter was dealt with.
“Until such a time that the container with the bodies of the miners is retrieved for the families to have an opportunity to give a proper burial to their loved ones, we will not rest,” he said.
Mashaba said he found the situation strange as the department had taken over the rights of all mines.
“You mine under their conditions and they have a right at any time to withdraw your licence, if you don’t comply,” he said.
“But now what about the Lily Mine case? Why six years later? Why are they not withdrawing the mining licence of Lily Mine?
“We want answers and support these South Africans because their lives matter.”
Pretty’s brother Sifiso Mavuso (24) said he had to drop out of the University of Joburg as he was not coping.
“I had to go to Lily Mine to fight for our loved ones to be retrieved. My sister left her six-month-old daughter and three sons,” he said.
The families’ spokesman Harry Mazibuko (45) said the government didn’t allow them to find closure.
“There are illegal miners who are still mining in the mine. We are here to exercise our democratic right. What is holding their retrieval? All we need is closure and to find them,” he said.
Department director Nhlanhla Chonco received the memorandum from ActionSA.
