Harmony Gold dismisses claims it was involved in explosion at abandoned Free State mine

A video doing the rounds on social media, which the publication is in possession of, shows three vehicles driving away from a decommissioned mine shaft at Harmony Gold mine in Virginia, where an explosion occurred on 17 May, claiming the lives of 31 zama zamas.

The man filming claims: “Here are the white man’s cars as you can see, they are coming from Mpobong. This is the envoy from Mpobong and I suspect that they left (or planted) another bomb in Mpobong. They are leaving but as you can see for yourself here are the cars.”

According to a zama zama, whose three brothers are trapped beneath the surface, he believes these claims, in that the explosion was not caused by methane gas but rather security personnel from Harmony Gold mine who dropped bombs into the shaft.

“There were vehicles belonging to the mine bosses – as soon as they left there was smoke and an explosion. The people who were nearer called and told us they think the boss poured something in the mine. They then took pictures of the cars. We heard what happened from the people who live closer to the mine.”

But Harmony Gold mine spokesperson Moeketsi Manoeli dismissed the allegations that they had anything to do with the explosion.

“We did see the video and it doesn’t really prove anything. I want to reiterate that there were four explosions prior to this tragic one and the most recent one that happened in 2021, where the explosion was ignited by a plug that switched on underground. Any mining company has lots of security that patrols and monitors on sites. We preach responsible stewardship as one of our strategic pillars. For us to act in such an unethical manner is unheard of so we think it’s very irresponsible for people to make such allegations against us.”

-EWN

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