Following the 13 bodies being brought to the surface on 22 February 2019, further mayhem unfolded at the Koornfontein plant 2, which is part of Gloria Mine. The retrieval brought the total number of bodies to 18, of which 16 of them identified by their next of kin as Basotho Nationals and one South African, the remaining body is still unidentified and unclaimed.
An unfortunate incident however unfolded on 23 February 2019, in the early hours of the morning at the same mine, wherein a group of approximately 15 men stormed into the premises, attacking security officers who were on duty and in the process inflicted an injury to one of them by senselessly kicking him in the face before damaging their reaction vehicle’s windscreen.
Police had to be called and on their arrival, the group scattered in different directions. At this stage it is not clear why these men were at the mine but cable theft cannot be ruled out.
An earnest appeal is hereby made to community members who are staying in and around these mines to refrain from damaging the infrastructure of these mines.
In essence, no one has the right to trespass on someone else’s property as that is purely criminal.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma said that whilst the province is currently facing a challenge regarding the retrieval of bodies which some are allegedly still remaining trapped in the mine shafts, there are individuals who still have the same criminal intentions, risking their lives in the process, thereby causing more problems for authorities by becoming part of the statistics.
General Zuma further said that such criminal tendencies will never be tolerated at any time. He called on law-abiding citizens as well as concerned foreign nationals, to cooperate with the police by volunteering information so that these thieves could be stopped in their tracks.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
