The Mbombela Magistrate's Court has found that owners of Lily Mine failed to conduct proper risk assessments - as required by the Mine Health and Safety Act - ahead of the tragic 2016 collapse which claimed three lives.
On Thursday, Magistrate Annamarie van der Merwe handed down judgment in an inquest held in November 2021 and February this year.
This was to determine who was liable for the incident in which three mineworkers - Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda - were killed. They were last seen on 5 February, 2016, inside the lamp room before it sunk underground when the mine collapsed.
The shipping container containing the three workers remains, buried about 60 metres underground.
"The two most important questions everybody wants answers to are whether the management of Lily Mine took sufficient precautions to guard against the occurrence of the incident and whether anyone can be held responsible for the deaths of the three deceased," Van der Merwe said.