Page 34 - Basotho News Today

One survivor of the underground methane gas explosion in May said that surviving miners stuck unground could not take the smell of the burning bodies, saying he could not go back to Lesotho without the bodies of his brothers and friends.

In the wake of a methane gas explosion that claimed the lives of 31 people at a decommissioned mining shaft near Welkom in South Africa, a zama zama from Lesotho explains the desperation that drove him to look for gold underground.

From the blog of Micah Ben David Naziri at The Times of Israel

Illegal mining is a huge issue which has led to multiple deaths in South Africa.

The government of Lesotho through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Mining are at advanced stages in finding means to bring to surface the bodies of at least 30 illegal miners at a disused mine in Free State.

Tshepo Monethi was one of the 31 Basotho men who died after a methane gas explosion at Harmony Gold mine in May while illegally mining in an unused shaft.

The families of some of the 31 Basotho men killed in a gas explosion while illegally mining at an abandoned mine have called on the South African government to provide them with a timeline indicating when their bodies can be exhumed.

Though Lesotho’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Lejone Mpotjoane admitted that his government was aware that Basotho gangs were heavily involved in illegal mining activity in South Africa, he said that it was something that wasnt condoned.

Mantashe said the problem of illegal mining is a national challenge as illegal miners take advantage of disused mines

This Encyclopedia Britannica list features 6 small kingdoms from around the world.