Related Articles
Top Stories
Feb 13 2012 12:15
Miner Xstrata says it has brought forward maintenance on two furnaces to assist Eskom to save power.
Feb 13 2012 10:43
Although jobs were created, the economy is still 420 000 jobs short of the peak employment level before the 2009 global financial crisis, says Adcorp.
Feb 13 2012 07:58
Greek lawmakers have approved a new round of drastic austerity measures after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left dozens injured.
Johannesburg - Mining deaths have dropped by 23% despite the absence of a presidential audit report, trade union Solidarity said on Tuesday.
The union said mining fatalities decreased from 221 in 2007, to 168 for 2008, representing a decrease of about 23%.
"This comes despite the fact that the presidential audit report on mining safety, which was commissioned by the president last year already, has still not been made available," Solidarity said.
The union added that it was unlikely the findings of the report
could still be regarded as relevant, but it was encouraging that all the role-players in the industry had worked together over the past year and made a considerable effort to make South Africa's mines safer.
"However, mineworkers must not let their guard down this festive
season when it comes to safety because mining deaths always tend to increase during this period," said Dirk Hermann, deputy general
secretary of Solidarity.
If the lower death toll this year could be repeated in the next few years, South Africa's would be able to compete with North American and Australian mines by 2013 when it came to safety.
"That would be a big accomplishment, since South African mines are the deepest and therefore also the most dangerous in the world," Hermann said.
- Sapa