Crash kills 18 construction workers from De Beers’ new Venetia mine in Limpopo

The tragedy took place at around 4pm on Sunday and is one of many examples of how shockingly dangerous South Africa’s roads are.

“The two vehicles caught alight and emergency services’ preliminary reports indicate that 18 of the Group’s employees, along with the driver of the other vehicle, sadly lost their lives, with four seriously injured and rushed to hospital,” construction group Murray & Roberts said in a statement. 

The NUM said the government needed to address the ongoing decay of South Africa’s road network.

“We are saying enough is enough about the loss of lives on the public roads. Government should do something to upgrade their roads... We are losing workers due to road accidents,” NUM North East Regional Secretary Phillip Mankge said in a statement.

The tragedy is a poignant reminder of the dangers that all South African road users face and, for mine workers, comes against the backdrop of improving safety in the sector.

Last year, South Africa’s mining sector had a record year for safety, with a death toll of 49 — still a shocking number at almost one fatality a week, but a vast improvement over just a few years ago. In 2008, for example, 170 miners were killed at work in South Africa.

This latest accident alone claimed the lives of more than a third of last year’s total accidental fatalities at the mines. 

The disaster also casts a shadow over a relatively rare piece of good news in the mining sector – an old company starting a new mine.

De Beers in July recorded its first production at Venetia’s new underground mine. This replaces the old open pit operation which ceased in December 2022 after more than 30 years of production.

Read more in Daily Maverick: De Beers records first production from new South African underground mine

Construction of the underground section – at a cost of $2.2-billion, the biggest investment in South Africa’s diamond sector in decades – began in 2012 and is around 70% complete. DM