DA demands mine safety report

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Tuesday submitted an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to compel the presidency to release the mining safety audit report to the public.

The audit was commissioned by former President Thabo Mbeki last year in December following a series of deaths and accidents across the country's mines, DA spokesperson Hendrik Schmidt said.

The minerals and energy department completed the audit in August promising it would "be released soon". More than three months after the department completed the audit, it had still not been made public, he said.

President Kgalema Motlanthe had been sitting on the report for almost a month since receiving it from the department.

The public deserved to know the exact causes of mine deaths and what steps were being taken to make working conditions in South Africa's mines less dangerous, Schmidt said.

"Mining is the heart of our country's economy. But it is driven by the hard work and the willingness of thousands of mineworkers to put their lives at risk every day."

The scale of mine deaths due too poor compliance with mining safety regulations posed a serious threat to the viability of this key sector and caused untold human suffering.

"This year more than 145 mineworkers have already died on duty as a result of unsafe working conditions."

Government had promised to tackle the causes of mine deaths for many years, yet it was now squandering an opportunity that would enable it to do so, he said.

Schmidt also urged parliament to use this last session of the year to speedily consider the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill, which provided for more strenuous mining health and safety requirements.

- Sapa