“Skeleme” goes off and the ground shakes for minutes

Olebogeng Motene/ Rustenburg/120917

“Skeleme” goes off and the ground shakes for minutes

Exactly at 3:34 pm today as I seat with Buti, Jack and their friends after a long field work day, we felt a vibration. Buti explained that it might be explosives that went off during underground blasting. These blasts are called ‘skeleme’, because they were highly dangerous to employees as they may blow up and cause fatality. The explosives have to blown up before a different shift goes underground. They further explained that only a chief miner goes down to ensure they are blown off.

This is an activity of Sibanye Platinum Kroondal Simuye shaft formally Aquarius. They explain that three blastings takes place daily at end of each of the morning, afternoon and night shift,