Abstract
Successful prosecution in the mining industry (south Gauteng) Abstract The Mining Industry Occupational Health and Safety Hub (MOSH) hub, Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) has numerous safety interventions (zero harm inter alia) in partnership with the mining houses. Despite those safety interventions there has been a significant increase in the number of mine injuries over the past two years. The Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) is the legislation that the mining sector should comply with in order to prevent accidents that may lead to fatalities. In the case of a fatality the MHSA (Section 60) states that ’the Chief Inspector of Mines must instruct an Inspector to conduct an investigation into any accident that resulted to the death of any person’. This is followed by the application of Section 65, which instructs the Chief Inspector of Mines to direct an Inspector to conduct an inquiry into any accident or incident at a mine that results in the death of any person. Section 72 (1) (b) follows, which specifies that at the conclusion of the inquiry the person presiding must prepare a written report of the findings, recommendations, and any remedial steps. Section 72 (3) then states that the Chief Inspector of Mines may submit a copy of the report to the appropriate Attorney-General (MHSA, 1996). The process alluded to above is a result of the decision made by the 1995 Leon Commission. The Commission recommended against the reintroduction of the Mining Court. It further concluded that ’its recommendations concerning the inspectorate, the introduction of a legal section therein, as well as a stronger regulation with regards to actual inquiries, should be sufficient to serve a purpose of a mining court’. This study investigates the impacts that the abovementioned recommendations have on prosecution as a compliance enforcement tool. Prosecution, though contentious, it is part of the Mine Health and Safety’s preventative and punitive system. This study focuses on the mines in southern Gauteng Province, and stresses that mine fatalities may have adverse impacts on all mining stakeholders, especially families.