Maputo, 17 Jul (AIM) – The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main South African opposition party, has written to the Mozambican Consul General seeking assistance to repatriate 14 bodies of the victims of a nitrate oxide gas leak in the Angelo Informal Settlement in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng province.
In total, 17 people lost their lives.
According to a note, the DA visited the victims’ families and was informed that 14 of the deceased, including both children and adults, are from Mozambique.
“The victims’ families are in desperate need of financial assistance to transport their deceased family members to Mozambique for dignified burials. The Gauteng Provincial Government had promised to assist the victims’ families in burying their loved ones; however, to date, nothing has happened. Instead, they only donated food parcels”, read the note.
“In addition, we have been informed by members of the community that illegal mining activities have resumed. The police patrols only lasted a day after the incident, which is a clear indication that innocent lives are in danger”, it says.
The DA is demanding police visibility in the area to curb illegal mining, “which poses a danger to the lives of communities where these activities are taking place”, reads the note.
(AIM)
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