Surge in SA mining fatalities in 2026 deeply concerning, says Mantashe

Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe told the Joburg Mining Indaba on Thursday that there has been a deeply concerning regression in accidental deaths this year in South Africa's deep and dangerous mines, a huge setback to the industry’s elusive goal of “zero harm.”

“We are at 52 fatals already this year,” Mantashe said in his closing address to the conference, hosted by Resources for Africa.

“Platinum and gold still kill too many people,” he said without providing a detailed breakdown on deaths by commodity.

In 2025, South Africa had a record low for a calendar year of 41 accidental deaths linked to mining – a milestone that was grim but which also reflected vast improvements from the carnage of the past when as many as 800 miners died in one year.

If the current rate is maintained, South Africa will have about 70 mining deaths in 2026, approaching double last year’s toll. These ghastly stats are only compiled for the legal mining industry and the toll among zama zamas is widely believed to be much higher.

Flashing lights

There have been many flashing red lights on this front. In February, five miners died in a mud rush at the Ekapa diamond mine in Northern Cape.

In late July, Impala Platinum (Implats) took the highly unusual step of proactively bringing its vast Rustenburg operations, which employ 51,500 people to a temporary halt for a “safety reset”.

This unprecedented stoppage came in the wake of two fatal accidents weeks apart involving underground locomotives equipped with sensors and other gadgets that should have prevented such incidents, underscoring the point that technological advances do not always deliver the desired results.

A senior executive with a major South African mining company told Daily Maverick on the sidelines of the indaba that on a recent roadshow overseas the biggest concern expressed by foreign investors was safety.

Indeed, much of the safety drive in South Africa’s mines in recent decades has been in response to the demands of investors who don’t want their dividends drenched in blood.

Safety first

Safety in mining is first and foremost a moral imperative – it is about human lives and dignity, factors that counted for little under apartheid when Black lives did not matter in the boardroom and a mostly migrant labour force was subjected to ruthless exploitation in an industrial meat grinder underground.

But in this more enlightened day and age, an unsafe industry with a rising death toll is a deterrent to investment, andas a result, it also costs jobs and the wider economy in the long run.

One thing is for certain: this setback will be a top priority among mining CEOs and hopefully this disturbing trend can be arrested. DM