Johannesburg - Families of the three mineworkers buried alive in a container when a Barberton mine collapsed in February say they have given up hope.
Read also: Eerie silence of despair at Lily Mine
“Things are quiet and we haven't heard anything from anyone; it's becoming hard to accept what happened to my sister-in-law,” said Jabulani Mazibuko.
His sister-in-law, Pretty Nkambule, along with Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyerende, was trapped underground when a lamp room container they were working in fell into an immense sinkhole at Lily Mine.
Rescue operations were launched in February, but later aborted after the mine declared them unsafe.
“Christopher (his brother) has had to take his four children to his mother-in-law because he is struggling to take care of them as a single parent.
“He has not heard anything from the mine, and the situation is now bad,” said Mazibuko.
“We will just have to see what happens and hope for the best. But we need to have her body back so her children can have closure.
“It’s not easy for Christopher to answer questions about their mother's whereabouts when he doesn't have answers.”
Kennedy Nyerende, Solomon’s father, told The Star’s sister paper, the Pretoria News, they were still in the dark about developments and that their hope was fading.
“I don’t know what’s happening.
“I haven't heard from anyone and I have also heard the mine is closing down and some of the mineworkers have taken packages,” he said.
“We won't know when we will get my son's body back. We want to have a funeral for him and close this chapter of our lives, but we can't,” said Nyerende.
Mnisi’s father Elmond Mnisi was reluctant to speak, saying only that he was not happy with the predicament they found themselves in.
“I am not keen on talking about it because it opens up our wounds.
“We are trying to come to terms with the fact that we may never see our children, but being questioned about it makes it harder to deal with,” said Mnisi.
Meanwhile, Vantage Goldfields, which owns the mine, could not be reached for comment. However, the company previously said no fresh efforts were being made to retrieve the bodies of the trio underground. Vantage Goldfields also said the mine had been placed under business rescue administration.
It also came to light that some workers at the mine had opted to take voluntary severance packages and left.
Cosatu and its affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers, marched to Lily Mine on June 12 and demanded that management prioritise the recovery of the three workers and paid the other workers their outstanding salaries.
Cosatu also wanted the government to establish a commission of inquiry into the Lily Mine disaster.
THE STAR