tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post7806441059417456115..comments2023-08-21T11:17:02.413-07:00Comments on The Golden Thread: Coalbrook mine disaster, 1960Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-72269196263809688612022-07-18T23:42:55.928-07:002022-07-18T23:42:55.928-07:00Hi Mabusa,
There was no place ever called "Ta...Hi Mabusa,<br />There was no place ever called "Taaibosspruit Village", the farm Taaiboschspruit (correct spelling) belonged to my grandmother who purchased the farm in 1903 and left to my late father in the 1980's. Are you perhaps referring to the mine villages called North and South respectively, or the power station villages called Taaibos and Highveld respectively. I knew a lot of people at these villages, as we were the local farmer in the area, and we delivered milk to the folks at these villages. Hope this info helps you. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-15372214770402826262022-07-18T06:43:10.320-07:002022-07-18T06:43:10.320-07:00My name is PaulMy name is PaulAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-15883901794183062312022-07-18T06:42:39.578-07:002022-07-18T06:42:39.578-07:00Hi Berend, did Britain offer any compensation for ...Hi Berend, did Britain offer any compensation for the families of the victims?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-1537609477068140782022-02-25T03:16:12.703-08:002022-02-25T03:16:12.703-08:00I am interested in the people who settled on the s...I am interested in the people who settled on the site where the Taaibosspruit village was constructed in the 1905s..Mabusa Sebobanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08849352751243178699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-42807234502960252422013-03-24T23:17:52.047-07:002013-03-24T23:17:52.047-07:00I have gone for an inspection and found that only ...I have gone for an inspection and found that only the Coalbrook housing complex close to the ill-fated North shaft have either been demolished or become derelict.<br /><br />The miners cottages belonging to the dismantled Coalbrook South Shaft (presumably for white miners) still exist and have people, mostly white, renting them. The cottages are smallish and rather cheaply constructed. <br /><br />And thirdly, there is an enclosed area with standard dwellings (3 -4 room bungalows) which (presumably) previously housed mine management personnel. This enclosed complex is called "Holly Country". It seems that Holly Country is fully occupied with all the trappings of a typical mining village . . . . recreation hall, sports fields, swimming pool etc.<br /><br />It is not clear who is doing the rent collecting. A Taiwanese company has rented, or bought, the entire mining rights area. <br /><br />The compound for black workers still exists with little visible damage, demolition or dereliction. So too the old mine hospital which in my view could easily be recommissioned, but standing vacant. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-14412015067983481032013-03-21T02:30:02.733-07:002013-03-21T02:30:02.733-07:00HI, i'm looking for information on the current...HI, i'm looking for information on the current status of the area in and around Coalbrook after the disaster. What was to become of the abandoned housing complex; was it stil inhabitable and is it safe for occupation today. Any related information will be much appreciated. Please also respond to grbsec@webmail.co.zaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-75133727442308873762013-01-31T20:18:50.426-08:002013-01-31T20:18:50.426-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-71793678794296601282012-11-05T14:36:52.148-08:002012-11-05T14:36:52.148-08:00Ditto for the tragedy at Wankie Colliery in 1976. ...Ditto for the tragedy at Wankie Colliery in 1976. The bodies were never retrieved. There's a bleak monument on site with miners' hats and even tin cups and other keepsakes. Bone chilling atmosphere. (Afrikaans poet Uys Krige so aptly wrote about this in the context of fisherman who risk their lives in his poem; "Dan se jy nog meneer, die vis is duur!")Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-59709762269748767942012-06-28T03:00:05.986-07:002012-06-28T03:00:05.986-07:00Dear Dr. Brett
To my knowledge no special efforts...Dear Dr. Brett<br /><br />To my knowledge no special efforts were made to recover bodies to establish the exact numbers of those who perished. You do of course raise an extremely valid and sensitive matter. <br /><br />What normally happened when there were deaths in the minds (especially gold mines but no less the coal mines as well)was that bodies were buried in somewhere on dedicated (note not consecrated or administered in any way) somewhere behind the compounds or dumps. These were unmarked graves. At Vaal Reefs, where I worked in the 1960s, the mine manager chose to establish a hobby farm for his own past time activity directly adjacent to a "grave yard". I made a point of counting the graves at one time and there to a more than 100. <br /><br />I will probe for more information with TEBA and/ or the chamber of mines. Maybe John Cairns, who made a presentation of the catastrophe at a mine Managers conference could shed more light on the matter. It may also be useful to ask Dr. Dunbar <br />to explore the matter. I could try and locate him. He may be at Wits University currently.<br /><br />I am of the opinion that the matter you raise must be investigated as a serious abuse of human rights abuse. It never was addressed by the by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was tasked to investigate human rights abuses during the apartheid era.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-85573526138681292012012-06-13T13:31:21.458-07:002012-06-13T13:31:21.458-07:00Just to clarify...
Obviously, the bodies would nee...Just to clarify...<br />Obviously, the bodies would need to be recovered first. But in all the references to the miners being forever entombed there, I assume that some were recovered and buried. Yes?Dr. Brett Schmollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06428292321518993580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-73511138109694616172012-06-13T11:41:19.863-07:002012-06-13T11:41:19.863-07:00Hello,
I have thoroughly enjoyed this post. Can an...Hello,<br />I have thoroughly enjoyed this post. Can anyone tell me where the miners were buried? Is there a local cemetery?<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />BrettDr. Brett Schmollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06428292321518993580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-56447374234384603002012-05-03T21:06:29.076-07:002012-05-03T21:06:29.076-07:00Thanks Johann!Thanks Johann!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-29887728821834242752012-05-03T21:05:28.835-07:002012-05-03T21:05:28.835-07:00I cannot begin to say how much I appreciate your r...I cannot begin to say how much I appreciate your remarks, John. One thing that has struck me with narratives on Coalbrook, and mining in South Africa in general, is the withering of institutional memory. If you are still in touch with all the officials you mention please probe them for more information. Thank you, once again. Berend SchuitemaAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-40976740998292035772012-04-04T13:33:32.776-07:002012-04-04T13:33:32.776-07:00I am a Mining Engineer formerly from South Africa....I am a Mining Engineer formerly from South Africa. I knew many of the people who featured in this tragic story - Mr George Dickson the Consulting Engineer; Walter W. Strath Lorimer the General Manager;Ian Dickson the sales rep for Goodman manufacturing company who supplied a lot of the mining equipment; William Tweedale Dalling (World War II SAAF Fighter Ace, DFC and Bar) the Chief Inspector of Mines from Witbank who tried to prosecute the mine management; Sir Andrew Bryan the former UK Chief Inspector of Mines who represented the company at the trial.<br />My father worked at this colliery as a shiftboss in 1935 when it was a much smaller operation. My father and myself went underground there about July 1958 and you would never have known a catastrophy was going to happen. In 1966 I met Jack Baillie of Goodman Manufacturing in the US - he had been training Coalbrook personnel to drive the borer mining machines and came up from underground about half an hour before the collapse. I also attended a technical meeting of the Institution of Mining Engineers in England several years after the disaster and nobody really knew what caused it. I have been told that Coalbrook North had limited coal reserves and in order to comply with Eskom's 35 year mine life requirement they had to mine 14 feet high rather than the 8 feet high done at the south colliery - this would have seriously weakened the coal pillars. There was also a fault running along one edge of the workings which may have contributed to the accident.<br />I understand the prosecution of the company officials largely failed because Mr Dalling the state's main witness had never actually worked in a coal mine and the judge felt that he couldn't be an expert witness.<br />I also understand the company did get found guilty for undermining land over the boundary of their lease.John Cairnsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-46964497242324222452012-03-27T12:05:22.669-07:002012-03-27T12:05:22.669-07:00I can remember listening over the radio with my pa...I can remember listening over the radio with my parents to the reports on the disaster. We regularly use to travel that road between Heilbron and Sasolburg visiting family in Johannesburg. For many years, a section of steel pipe projected about 1 m above the ground at the place where I believe the emergency shaft was drilled - 200m east of the road about 1 km towards Sasolburg from the position of the Head Gear. Nowadays it is not visible anymore. Can anybody assist me with the location of this emergency shaft.Johannnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-8219783540157914202012-03-15T09:53:21.618-07:002012-03-15T09:53:21.618-07:00Hi Lebogang,
This is a very noble project you hav...Hi Lebogang,<br /><br />This is a very noble project you have taken on!<br /><br />It should be possible to fish up Coalbrook survivors - if they were young when they started work in that disastrous mine they are past sixty - going for 70 today. In my project I have found that one rarely gets an old black miner who has much knowledge of their past experience, except of course for these extra ordinary happenings. <br /><br />I want to suggest another route to follow - I am sure there was much television reporting on the catastrophe. SA at that time still had none, but maybe there are still radio recordings extant. BBC should have very good footage. <br /><br />Let's stay in touch. You can also find me on Facebook.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />BerendAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-61499930197282463742012-03-14T06:17:51.393-07:002012-03-14T06:17:51.393-07:00Anonymous,
This has also been a puzzle to me. It ...Anonymous,<br /><br />This has also been a puzzle to me. It appears that the Pullinger Shaft was plugged and the head gear dismantled soon after Verterspost mine started. Maybe you could go to their survey office to find the exact coordinates of the shaft.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064505728703304397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-56301932654809498862012-03-07T04:14:59.134-08:002012-03-07T04:14:59.134-08:00Berend,
I am refering to one of your earlier post...Berend,<br /><br />I am refering to one of your earlier posts - Spooktown of the Far West Rand.<br /><br />Do you have a precise location of the Pullinger shaft? I grew up in Westonaria and surrounds and could never find anybody we knew the location of this shaft.<br /><br />Quite interesting there are a lot of internet sites promoting Westonaria on the grounds of visiting this shaft, but does not indicate it's location.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909805519528272594.post-4739732328596235372012-03-01T23:13:47.362-08:002012-03-01T23:13:47.362-08:00Hi
My name is Lebogang oa Machedi. am residing in...Hi <br />My name is Lebogang oa Machedi. am residing in Sasolburg. am an independent documentary filmmaker and i have been researching about the Coalbrook massacre. how possible it is for me to meet with you?<br /><br />i can be contacted on this number 076 718 2215.<br /><br />thank youAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com