RUSTENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) — Two miners were killed after a mine accident in north South Africa on late Tuesday, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday.

The accident happened last night at Northam Platinum’s shaft 2, section 42, in Rustenburg, a city in north South Africa. “The workers died due to a fall of ground,” the NUM said in a statement.

The union condemned the mine operator for allegedly trying to hide the mine deaths. “The NUM condemns Northam Platinum’s attitude in going the extra mine to hide the accident from the NUM branch,” the statement said.

According to NUM, the deaths came only to the attention of the NUM when the Department of Mineral Resources informed them that a section 54 notice of the Mine Health and Safety Act had been issued, suspending operations.

The NUM called for stiffer penalties and measures against companies and executives that attempt to hide mine deaths in order to ‘score safety bonuses.’

Tuesday’s fatalities bring the total number of mineworkers killed in the South African mining industry since January to 70. “It is shocking that the 70 that died is what the Chamber of Mines calls safety progress,” said Peter Bailey, the NUM’s chairperson for Health and Safety.

Bailey earlier called for serious intervention from both the state and the mining industry to lower the number of mine fatalities. “Workshops alone cannot help resolve the spate of mining accidents. Action should speak louder than words,” Bailey said.

Also on Tuesday, a miner was killed at Goldfields’ Driefontein mine outside Carletonville, in west South Africa, when he was crushed by a box front shutter.

And earlier this month, on July 6, five mineworkers were killed and another was critically injured at a mine belonging to Aquarius Platinum in Rustenburg. The NUM attributed their deaths to ‘a fall of ground.’

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