South African Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu visited the site where nine mineworkers recently lost their lives, bringing the safety of miners under the spotlight.

The nine mineworkers were killed at the Impala Platinum mine in Rustenburg, after being trapped underground following a rockfall. Minister Shabangu visited the underground platinum mine to inspect the conditions and circumstances under which the mineworkers perished.

To date, 104 miners have died in South Africa's underground mines this year - 86 were illegal miners. Last year 168 miners died and 220 miners died in 2007.

Minister Shabangu stated: "By virtue of having an accident, it is quite clear that there are challenges. You can't say that the safety standards are up to scratch. We have to revisit our own legislation. We have to revisit the accident that has occurred to find out exactly what the situation is and where we went wrong. I must also indicate that some of these issues and laws are not static and they have to be responsive and proactive."

The minister added she would wait for investigations into the collapse of the mining shaft to be completed before deciding on what action needs to be taken.

Mining activity has been put to a halt at Impala Platinum to allow the department's inspectors to conduct their investigations.

Minister Shabangu noted: "We intend to go into that particular area where the accident has occurred to investigate what the cause of the accident was and how it happened, but also to look at the safety standards and whether the company had complied.”

In October 2007, former President Thabo Mbeki ordered a countrywide health and safety audit of mines to determine the level of compliance with health and safety legislation.

The subsequent Mine Safety Audit Report revealed that the South African mining industry achieved an overall score of 66% compliance with the relevant requirements of the Mine Health and Safety Act.

When it came to occupational health and safety, the mining industry reportedly scored a disappointing 59% for compliance, while scoring only 56% for health risk management.

Five mining sectors were audited including gold, platinum, coal, diamond and other smaller mining activities. The diamond sector scored a low 47% compliance with health risk management regulations. The gold industry also scored a mediocre 53% compliance when it came to health risk management.