Ekapa Minerals Mine in Kimberley, Northern Cape, where five miners were trapped underground following a mud rush last week, has reportedly been put under liquidation.
The mine has not issued a statement yet; however, officials from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) confirmed on Wednesday that the mine went into liquidation as of midday.
“We are informed that the mine is liquidating, and then all the workers have not received their salaries as we speak. They were supposed to be paid today, on the 25th of February. All of them have been told they will not get their salaries this month,” Numsa organiser Lerato Mohatlane told the SABC.
Numsa confirms Ekapa Mine liquidation
The union said it will approach the courts for a way forward.
Last week, five mineworkers were trapped nearly 890 meters underground following a mudrush incident on Tuesday. Numsa will also approach the courts with a clear plan on how the trapped men will be retrieved.
ALSO READ: ‘Possibility of life is minimal’: Mantashe says Ekapa Mine workers feared dead after mud rush
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe provided an update on the state of the mine on Tuesday during a briefing from the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) on illegal mining.
“Up to yesterday [Monday], a lot of water has been drained from Ekapa. Up to now, about 1 000 cubic metres of water have been drained. Today, the mud is being dug out to retrieve the corpses from underground,” he said.
Trapped workers presumed dead
He said on Tuesday that he will visit the Ekapa site again on Friday and has assumed the presumption of death, “because there’s no likelihood that after all these days, there would still be life after a mud rush.”
According to Mantashe, the mining sector recorded 41 fatalities in 2025, and he warned that beginning this year with such an incident is “a bad sign for the industry”.
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