The death of the miner, believed to be 30-years old, is the third fatality recorded by TNMC since the mine opened more than a decade ago.Unconfirmed reports suggest that the operator is said to have earlier on reported, while working on levelling the tail-end of the mine's waste dump, that his machine was not functioning properly.The waste dump is about 58 metres high. The team on the ground allegedly lost track of him after he reported the malfunctioning truck.It is during this period that the unforeseen is thought to have happened.At the time of going to press, it was not clear how the miner died. His body was reportedly discovered outside the bulldozer by his colleagues. He is said to have had extensive head injuries and a deep laceration on his thigh. The bulldozer reportedly continued its head-long motion from the tail end of the pit until it ploughed into fences of nearby ploughing fields of Pobepobe lands.
A courageous individual said to have been previously in the employ of Moolmans reportedly jumped on to the bulldozer and applied the brakes.TNMC public relations manager Tebogo Rapitsenyane confirmed the incident through a press statement yesterday."At this point in time we don't have the finer details of what transpired but we will only have them once a mandatory investigation/inquiry by the Department of Mines is complete, and it is currently on. The name of the deceased is currently withheld until the family and relatives are informed of the incident," he said in the press statement.TNMC visited those whose fences were affected in the nearby fields to comfort them and assure them of their safety, Rapitsenyane said.
