SA’s mining industry has had a grim start to the year.
Deaths in the industry have accelerated in the first six months, with gold mining major Harmony accounting for most fatalities in the labour intensive sector.
Harmony this week reported its 10th death this year — nearly half the total reported by the industry — with the group’s safety record coming under scrutiny.
The latest death at the company occurred during a fall of ground at its Joel mine in the Free State.
“We are devastated by another loss of life — especially as we are like a family at Harmony; we care deeply about each person,” the company said.
“Our safety strategy and culture include both systemic and humanistic factors and controls. These controls are designed to avoid incidents and protect our employees. They have to be adhered to at all times.
“We have consistently improved our safety year on year over the past decade. The past six months we view as an anomaly.”
The deaths at Harmony, one of SA’s largest gold mining houses, put pressure on new CEO Beyers Nel to improve the company’s safety record.
Nel took over the reins at Harmony in January from Peter Steenkamp, who retired at end-December after nine years in the role.
Nel has been with Harmony since 2003 and held various positions, rising to the role of group COO in January 2023.
The Minerals Council SA said the industry was still committed to ensuring zero harm.
“Based on data received from the department of mineral & petroleum resources, and bearing in mind this information is provisional, the number of fatalities in the SA mining industry in the year to date to last Friday is 24 compared with 14 in the same period a year earlier,” the council said.
“The number of injuries is 742, a 13% reduction from 852 in the same period a year ago. The trend so far this year underscores the urgency for sustained and proactive interventions by the Minerals Council and its members.”
After the fatal incident, Harmony declared a day of safety at all its SA mines on Thursday.
“Our day of safety is not simply a pause, it is a call to action,” said Nel.
SA mining recorded 42 deaths in 2024 — the lowest number of fatalities in the sector yet. It was down 24% from the previous year, according to government’s statistics.
“Over the past five financial years, Harmony’s LTIFR (lost time injury frequency rate) has remained well below six per million hours worked, with our LLIFR (loss of life injury frequency rate) sitting at 0.02. This reinforces our belief that zero loss of life is indeed possible,” Harmony said.
Update: June 5 2025
This story has been updated with more information.
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