Sibanye-Stillwater, a multinational mining and metals company, recorded four fatalities at its Burnstone gold project near Balfour in South Africa because of a surface waste rock conveyor fall on April 13.
The miner said five contractor employees were installing a head pulley on the conveyor equipment when it collapsed.
Four were killed, and one person suffered significant injuries that are being treated in a hospital.
Investigations into the exact cause of the occurrence are underway.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, Sahlulele Luzipo, said there is a need for a statutory method of imposing punitive sanctions on mining corporations that fail to put in place methods to prevent fatalities.
The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident required using a 140-tonne crane to remove the pulley from the ground and position it, which was not the case.
It demanded a swift and thorough enquiry.
The mining industry in South Africa has now recorded 15 fatalities since the beginning of the year.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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