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Authorities Aim To Further Reduce Mining Deaths

A screengrab of Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe at a briefing on 27 September 2018.

The Mineral Resources Department on Friday said it would work with organised labour and mining executives to reduce fatalities in the sector.

Minister Gwede Mantashe released the 2019 occupational health and safety statistics for the mining industry on Friday.

At least 51 deaths were recorded last year compared to 81 in 2018.

This is the lowest number ever recorded in the sector.

The department’s David Msiza said while there was a decrease in deaths, more needed to be done to continue the downward trend in occupational diseases, injuries and fatalities.

“We continue to extend our sincere condolences to the families of the workers. This is why we’ve engaged with organised business and labour on how we can achieve this goal to reduce the number of deaths in the mining industry.”

EWN

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