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As they took slow steps from the mouth of a disused mine shaft, crestfallen and visibly low-spirited, the parents of five-year-old Richard Thole knew they were leaving their son behind, somewhere down there.
It was Friday morning and they were going back home to wait for the search for Richard to resume. They could not begin to imagine how their first weekend without their son was going to be – and worst, not knowing if he would ever be found.
Today marks 11 days since Richard was swallowed into an abandoned mine shaft while playing with friends in an open space on the edges of Jerusalem, an informal settlement outside Boksburg.
Richard’s father, Mishack Mohlala, and mother, Nombeko Thole, are aware that the clock was ticking but they refuse to lose hope. They have already had the toughest week of their lives.
“This is the hardest time for us. Sleeping and eating have become great struggles since our boy disappeared and now having to wait until Monday is something else... We just want the government to help us find our son really,” Mohlala said.
“Rescue people have explained everything to us and the challenges they came across but it is not easy for to understand. It would be hard for any parent to go back home, sleep and wait for days before the search continues but because we don’t have a choice we can only pray that he is found.”
One question that the couple asked not to respond to was whether they still had hope of finding him alive. But Richard’s grandmother, Sophie Mohlala, who accompanied the couple had this to say: “This is very hard for the family. We just want to find closure. Even if he is dead, we’ll accept it. But the wait while the search continues is killing us inside.”
The last time she saw her son, Thole said the young boy came back from playing with a friend and asked for food.
“He later came back to drop a juice bottle at home and left. Later on her friend came running to tell me that he had fallen into the shaft,” Thole said with her eyes swollen from crying.
“I stood there at the mouth of the shaft calling his name hoping to hear him answer but there was none and that was when I called the police. It’s been days now and we’re still waiting.”
After the Mine Rescue Services and the Ekurhuleni Emergency Services abandoned their search, citing safety risks on Wednesday, Mayor Mzwandile Masina approached the South African National Defence Force for help. The army went to assess the shaft on Friday.
Masina’s spokesperson, Gugu Ndima, said they were expecting a report back from the army tomorrow to indicate what could be done.
Ekurhuleni emergency services spokesperson William Ntladi said last week that chances of finding Richard alive, given the number of days he had been missing, were minimal.
He said they halted their search due to the unstable ground, rockfalls, mudslides, acid mine water and gases, which all made it difficult for them to go down the hole – which is about 140 metres deep.
Meanwhile, Richard’s mother said the community had complained about the old shaft close to their shacks.
“It has always been our community’s concern and now see what has happened. My son is gone,” Thole said.
“He is a bubbly boy who was friendly to everyone and well known around here. I miss him especially in the morning, because he was always up early and making noise. I miss that noise and the energy he created at home.”
According to an environmental activist from the Ekurhuleni Environmental Organisation, Mishack Mbangula, there were 356 disused mine shafts in Ekurhuleni alone and about 600 across Gauteng.
“Very few of these abandoned shafts in Ekurhuleni, about two or three, were sealed after we put some pressure. With many more still open and close to residential areas, they continue to pose a danger,” he said.
“We have for years been trying to raise our concerns with the mineral resources department but they have been avoiding us. We marched in Cape Town during the recent mining indaba, where the rehabilitation of old mines was among our concerns, but still no one seems to care. How many children must fall into these shafts and die before something is done?”
Meanwhile, Ekurhuleni municipal spokesperson Themba Gadebe said “about a month ago the concrete plug of the mineshaft collapsed and that is where the unfortunate accident of young Richard happened”.
“Consequently, a site inspection of various suspected shafts around the area was conducted by the [municipality] along with the Council of GeoScience and the department of mineral resources, as the custodians of current and abandoned mines, and they have a database of these shafts.
“A decision was taken by City of Ekurhuleni and the Council of GeoScience on the closure of disused mine shafts with the agreement that the council would rehabilitate them after an investigation of the ownership of the land, because rehabilitation can only be done on shafts that are ownerless.”
Gadebe added that in the “inspection of holes around the vicinity, some shafts/holes had been previously rehabilitated only to be vandalised by illegal miners to gain entry to the shafts. Fences or barricades had been put up as a temporary measure but these were stolen”.
