Chair, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, the chairperson of the portfolio committee, Members of Parliament, officials of the Department of Mineral Resources, and all guests ... ndiyanibulisa. [... I greet you.]
Mine health and safety matters are the most important issues which should be looked into in the mining industry in order to stress the need for improved health, which will result in a healthy mining society and industry. The high statistics are now gradually coming down and improving, which clearly shows that the measures of the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate have been implemented.
The natural shaking or vibrating of the earth results in rock falls or collapses, and these continue to result in fatalities, although through the establishment of the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate, there is a clear indication of a drop in injuries amongst miners. Similarly, it has been found that there has been a 26% improvement in falls of ground fatalities associated with seismic activity. In fact, over the past two years, fewer miners have died as a result of seismicity. In 2010, 48 miners died, compared to 65 in 2009. However, overall safety milestones set in 2003 indicate that there is still a lot of work to do. As we can see, the mining industry zero-rate target of fatalities by 2013 in the platinum and gold sectors is yet to be achieved.
The informal settlements surrounding mines, and the environment, are being affected by acid mine drainage from mine residue and waste dumps. The study by the Bench Marks Foundation for Southern Africa found that nothing is said by the mines in any of their reports on the proximity of villages and informal settlements to major waste facilities, such as slimes dams and tailings dams. The mines are silent on this and on the loss of productive land to waste facilities.
The report also notes that owing to the increasing number of platinum smelters in the area, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide emissions have increased, resulting in a dramatic increase in respiratory infections. Apart from the immediate harmful impact on the community, this increase in emissions will eventually give rise to acid rain. Some farmers in the area are already complaining that the dust and emissions from the mines and smelters are having an impact on their citrus crops.
This next issue remains my biggest area of concern. Since the days when my own father was a mine worker ... kwakusoloko kuthethwa ngetafile ewileyo. [... there has always been the excuse of falling rocks.]
Allow me to repeat what I always say when I meet with the department.
Ngexesha leli litye letafile liwayo elibizwa ngokuba yi-fall of rock ngesiNgesi, awayesixelela ngalo utata, ndandiseyintombazana. Namhlanje ndingumakhulu, sisathetha ngale tafile iwayo. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Ibuhlungu nyhani le nto kum kwaye yenza ukuba ndivakalelwe. Ngokuqinisekileyo ootata bayathandaza xa bevuka besiya kusebenza emigodini kuba abazi ukuba ngubani oza kubuya ingubani ongazukubuya. Isebe liyasebenza kodwa lithabatha ixesha elide kuba xa kungoku bekumele ukuba kuyaziwa ukuba kwenziwa ntoni.
Noxa kunjalo mandilincome isebe kuba ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[When my father used to tell us about the falling rocks, I was still a young girl. Today I am a grandmother, but we are still talking about the falling rocks. [Applause.]
This is very painful and disturbing to me. These men must certainly pray when they get up to go to the mines, because they do not know who will and who will not return. The department is working on it, but it is taking too long, because by now we are supposed to know what is being done.
Be that as it may, let me commend the department: ...]
... at least they are doing something. There is a safety net ... ekucaca ukuba ikhona kwaye nixakeke yiyo. Enye ke andiyazi nokuba niyibiza ngokuba yi-approximity device okanye yi-proximity device, kodwa ... [... that they are busy with. There is also another measure which they call the approximity or proximity device, but ...]
... there is a detector. This makes me happy. At least ...
... iza kufana nezi moto sezinesixhobo esithi xa zibuya umva senze isikhalo esithetha ukuba uza kutshayisa. Esi sixhobo ke siza kuba njalo. [... this detector is going to work like a sensor which is fitted in cars to warn the driver. That is how this detector is going to work.] [Applause.]
This, then, is a concern. Senditshilo [I have already said so] The family of a miner would be worried about their father's not coming home because he could be killed by a rock fall. Really, this is a concern.
We continue to talk thus, even in this modern, technologically advanced mining industry. With the billions of rands that the mining industry generates, surely the best practice from other countries can be gained and researched in our own country in order to move towards a zero tolerance of fatalities?
Ningandithumela nam kumanye amazwe ndiye kukhangela le nto! [You can send me to other countries to do research on it!]
The latest reports indicate that mining fatalities declined from 168 in 2010, to 127 in 2011, which is still not good enough. There should not be a single miner who dies due to a mine accident; hence the appreciation of the Mine Health and Safety Council initiative on their road to a zero harm journey in terms of which a holistic involvement is assisting in the speedy achievement of a tripartite approach.
My biggest compliment is for the establishment of the mining industry's HIV/Aids and TB Council, which is now able to give specific attention to the concerns around these diseases in the Department of Mineral Resources and the Mine Health and Safety Directorate. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]