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Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma wants South Africans to pray for the families of the three coal miners still trapped in the Lily Mine in Mpumalanga.
"This is a very difficult period for the affected families as they wait and pray for their loved ones to be found in good health. Let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers," he said in a statement.
Rescue workers heard knocking from deep inside the mine on Monday morning, leading them to believe the three were still alive.
Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Mabuza, and Solomon Nyarenda were inside a lamp room in a shipping container when it disappeared into a sink hole about the size of a rugby field after a supporting pillar of ore collapsed on Friday. Seventy-six miners were rescued.
The lamp room contained head lamps and rescue packs with oxygen.
During a visit to the mine of Friday, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said the owner, Vantage Goldfields, had agreed that it should be closed until the safety of its miners could be guaranteed.
"This is a good example of positive engagement with companies. We're not sitting in Pretoria. We went ourselves and saw the conditions on the ground," he said.
