18 September 2026

SUMMARY: AMCU has received a report that a mineworker was killed at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde Mine in Limpopo Province. The Union points out that recurring fatalities highlight ongoing failures to adequately address known workplace hazards.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has received a report that a mineworker was killed at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde Mine in Limpopo Province. 

On Thursday, 17 September 2026, at approximately 02:22, a fatal Rail-Bound Equipment (RBE)-related accident occurred at Zondereinde Mine in the No. 2 Shaft North Crosscut area on 4 Level. 

According to preliminary information received by the Union, a locomotive crew was travelling from the station towards the section. The Loco Guard was reportedly walking in front of the span towards a ventilation door when he was reportedly caught and pulled by one of the hoppers. He was subsequently run over by the last hopper in the span. 

The Control Room was immediately notified, and emergency medical personnel were dispatched underground to the scene. Regrettably, the mineworker sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead at the scene. 

This latest fatality brings the number of mineworkers killed in the South African mining industry in 2026 to 51, based on information available to AMCU. The deceased was a 55-year-old mineworker from Chibuto, Mozambique. 

“This is another preventable fatality. However, it is not simply another number added to a growing statistic. Behind this figure is a mineworker who will not return home to his family, friends and colleagues. These recurring and preventable incidents demonstrate that the mining industry is failing to learn from previous disasters and fatal incidents. The same hazards continue to claim lives, while mining companies maintain that safety is their highest priority”, said AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa. 

“If safety were genuinely the highest priority, Mineworkers would not continue to lose their lives in recurring incidents involving hazards that are known, identifiable and capable of being controlled. The continued loss of life requires more than expressions of concern after every fatality. It requires urgent legislative reform, effective enforcement, personal accountability, and meaningful consequences for those responsible for allowing unsafe conditions to persist”, Mathunjwa added. 

AMCU maintains that the current enforcement framework has not provided a sufficient deterrent against unsafe conduct. The Union rejects the notion that fatalities should be regarded as an unavoidable consequence of mining. Every fatality must trigger a rigorous examination of whether known risks were properly identified, assessed, controlled, monitored and reviewed. 

Whenever a mineworker is killed or seriously injured in circumstances similar to a previous incident, the relevant mining company must be required to account for: 

• The causes and contributing factors identified in the earlier incident. 
• The corrective and preventive measures introduced in response. 
• Whether those measures were fully implemented, monitored and independently verified. 
• Whether mineworkers and Organised Labour were properly consulted. 
• Why the measures failed to prevent a recurrence. 
• Which members of management were responsible for ensuring that the identified risks were eliminated or adequately controlled. 

Another serious concern is the continued loss of life among contract mineworkers. AMCU is concerned that these mineworkers continue to perform core mining functions while operating within fragmented employment arrangements that can create gaps in responsibility, oversight and accountability. 

“A mineworker is a mineworker, regardless of the nature of that mineworker’s employment contract. AMCU rejects arrangements in which core and permanent mining functions are outsourced primarily to reduce labour costs or distance the mining company from its obligations and accountability”, Mathunjwa said. 

Permanent mining operations require mineworkers who are properly trained, fully integrated into the mine’s Health and Safety Management Systems, and protected by consistent standards and conditions of employment. 

AMCU’s intervention at Impala, which resulted in the insourcing of core mining functions, demonstrates that bringing such functions back into permanent employment is achievable. 

Outsourcing should be limited to genuinely specialised functions that cannot reasonably be performed internally. Such functions must be clearly defined, properly controlled and subject to the same rigorous health and safety standards and oversight applicable to the mine’s permanent workforce. 

The repeated occurrence of transportation-related incidents, falls of ground, mud-rushes, and conveyance-related accidents – many involving contract mineworkers – points to broader systemic failures that require urgent intervention. 

“The recurring nature of these fatalities demands a fundamental change in the way mine safety is regulated and enforced. We cannot continue to investigate fatalities after the fact without holding those responsible for repeatable accidents and preventable failures properly accountable. AMCU will therefore continue to campaign for urgent amendments to the Mine Health and Safety Act to strengthen enforcement, close accountability gaps, and hold mine bosses personally accountable for killing workers through unsafe mining operations”, Mathunjwa concluded. 

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For more information or media interviews, contact AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa.