The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has urgently called on the Limpopo provincial government to assemble a team of professionals to probe all the major accidents in the province.
This follows a horrific accident that claimed at least 22 lives of Venetia mineworkers in Musina, Limpopo on Sunday.
The accident happened after the mine bus collided with a truck.
The two vehicles caught fire, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. The accident occurred on the R573 road from Musina to Venetia Mine, where workers were headed to work for an overnight shift.
A chopper had to be used to airlift one employee to a hospital in a critical condition, while four others were transferred to a local hospital.
The organisation said it was devastated and saddened by the loss of more than 20 mineworkers and extended its condolences to their families and the company.
The workers who died were employed by Murray and Roberts to offer services in the mine. NUM’s North East regional secretary, Phillip Mankge said they were shattered by the accident and said the issue of losing mine workers on the road should come to an end.
"We are very shattered and devastated by this incident. We are saying enough is enough about the loss of lives on the public roads. The government should do something to upgrade their roads because this is the second incident in a short space of six months. We are losing workers due to road accidents," Mankge said.
He said there should be zero tolerance concerning road deaths on public roads and urged the provincial government to act on the matter in the interests of public health.
"We would like to offer our sincere and deepest condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of the deceased," he said.
The NUM said measures must be taken by the provincial government in Limpopo to prevent any such accidents in the future.
The union said the loss of so many mineworkers in one accident was painful and should not be repeated.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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