Teenage survivor claims illegal miners were gassed
Sixteen bodies brought to the surface as search goes on for four missing at New Consort
March 1, 2009
By Wiseman Khuzwayo
TEENAGER Sandile Zikalala thanks his gods that he survived an illegal gold dig at the New Consort mine in Barberton. Four of his companions died in what mine management says was an underground fire, which Zikalala disputes.
He says teargas was fired and he is certain that it was mixed with chemicals. He smelt acrid fumes that were not fire smoke. He believes that the chemicals were fired into the mine by security officials.
"We first thought it was smoke. When we realised what it was my companions ran away," Zikalala says. "I took off in the opposite direction and ended up at a work station. My right arm was broken and I don't know how that happened."
So far 16 bodies have been brought to the surface and four more were expected to be recovered on Friday night. Three illegal miners were rescued alive from the incident that took place last Sunday.
Zikalala shows a nasty burn wound just below his right shoulder where the top layers of skin have been seared away. He says it was not caused by fire or abrasion.
New Consort is one of the three mines in the area belonging to Barberton Mines.
Barberton Mines general manager Casper Strydom says a fire broke out in the area where the illegal miners were digging. It must have consumed the oxygen, leaving only carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which would have killed the illegal miners.
Post mortems will establish the causes of death
Martinč Jooste, the chief security officer at Barberton, says Zikalala told him that the fire was started because of a feud between rival groups of illegal miners.
Zikalala says he had only recently joined the illegal mining operation. They bribed the mine guards to enter the mine. He and his companions dug from about 6am to 2pm using chisels and hammers.
Notably, the New Consort mine produces gold in small nodules or nuggets, unlike the deep mines of the Witwatersrand where gold is extracted from the ore using chemicals.
During the period that he was digging illegally, Zikalala says he earned about R1 500 over four days. But those with proper machinery and vehicles to transport the gold to the buyers make between R2 000 and R3 000 a day and they stay underground for about 24 days. Food is delivered to them by their employees.
Zikalala says there is no shortage of buyers, mainly Zimbabweans and other foreigners.
"I will never go back to illegal mining. I walked into the mine with my four companions and all of a sudden they were dead. I would rather work as a gardener," says the 17-year-old.
Jooste took Business Report for a drive to show how the illegal miners enter the mine, which is accessed through tunnels cut into a mountain. The area is full of dense bush.
The illegal miners enter by using the ventilation shafts, secured by the mine using steel grills or razor wire. But the illegal miners cut these with blow torches, making small entries.
The mine has now employed guards from Koevoet, an apartheid-era irregular unit. They camp at vulnerable areas for 24 days at a time, he says.
Jooste says the illegal mining started about four or five years ago but has escalated over the past six months. More than 270 illegal miners have been arrested, 91 convicted and 69 given a prison sentence.
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