NUM marks 22 years since Vaal Reefs disaster
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday remembered the 104 mineworkers that were killed in an accident at AngloGold’s Vaal Reefs mine in 1995.
On May 10 that year, a locomotive broke through safety barriers and fell into a lift shaft, landing on a cage transporting people to the surface. The cage plunged 460 m to the bottom of the shaft in what has been one of the world’s worst elevator disasters.
The NUM said that the tragedy led to the establishment of the Mine Health and Safety Act with health and safety rights in 1996, giving workers the right to refuse to do dangerous work or withdraw from a dangerous workplace without fear of victimisation; the right to education and training; the right to information and the right to representation and participation.
The disaster also resulted in the establishment of the Vaal Reefs Disaster Trust, started by the NUM and AngloGold to assist and care for the wives and dependants of the deceased. The disaster left 316 children without fathers and 109 widows without husbands.
“The trust that was established is doing well in taking care of the beneficiaries with more than 80 children of the fallen comrades at tertiary level,” the NUM said in a statement.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation