Ruth First
New Age February 4th, 1960
(Ruth First)
As battle to save the 435 trapped
miners is lost, the emphasis must shift towards compensation adequate and
equitable compensation for the victims of criminally reckless mining practices
of the mine corporations. Further, 700 killed in the mines in the year just
prior to Coalbrook. SACTU led a campaign for compensation as well as a full
public commission of inquiry into the causes of the disaster.
There was secrecy surrounding the
disaster, both during the rescue and after. No commemoration barring a small
meeting held in Greenside ostensibly by VESAMAFO, an informal labor broker
working outside of formal TEBA structures. Security Police presence at the
shaft head and compound ominous and intriguing. SACTU learnt that one of the
issues was to prevent “desertion” especially of workers from Lesotho.
A thirteen months before the disaster
there was a report of an inquiry into mining practices at Coalbrook North,
following the introduction of the first mechanical continuous miner in a South
African coal mine. It made reference to heavy water ingressions
into the underground workings, large falls of ground and general unstable roof
conditions.
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