In an open letter addressed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, ActionSA questioned his next move in the 2016 Lily Mine disaster saga, following a visit the party took to the mine in Barberton on Tuesday.

In February 2016, three miners at the Lily mine fell to their deaths in a container that was swallowed by a sinkhole.

In an open letter to Ramaphosa, ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said his party’s visit to the mine was a result of party leader Herman Mashaba’s concern for the families’ struggle, noting his involvement in the matter since 2020, even before the formation of ActionSA.

Trollip said the incident could and should have been averted had the mine owners listened to reports submitted to them two years prior, warning that they were pursuing “reckless” mining practices.

“…not only did their careless greed lead to the unnecessary loss of life, but it also resulted in the catastrophic loss of a thousand desperately needed jobs,” he stated.

ActionSA had spent more than R4-million on legal fees in the matter, according to Trollip, in addition to expenses related to regular visitations, travel, accommodation and support to the families.

“These expenses, while significant, were worthwhile and meaningful, for while everyone else, including their own government, has abandoned them, we knew it was the right thing to do,” he said.

Trollip accused the African National Congress, provincial premiers, MECs, Ministers, departmental officials, business rescue practitioners (BRPs) and the mine owners of dishonouring commitments made to the miners’ families.

He claimed that mining continues illegally, with the mine owners and BRPs using illegal miners to extract gold.

“…yet they show no inclination or commitment to do what they should have done almost ten years ago,” he said.

February 2026 will be ten years since the incident occurred, and Trollip pointed out that government had yet to retrieve the remains of the miners, noting that instead, government had previously sent the country’s mine rescue practitioners to Chile to save trapped miners.

Additionally, more than R100-million was used to retrieve the bodies of deceased illegal miners from the Stilfontein mine.

“We have spent millions of rands arresting zama zamas at the nearby Shiba mine in Barberton as part of the Vala Umgodi initiative. Yet nothing is being done to retrieve the entombed bodies of Solomon, Pretty and Yvonne from the Lily mine,” he noted.