Trade union UASA says it is "deeply saddened" by Ekapa Resources and Ekapa Minerals' plans to apply for liquidation while workers, families and the broader mining community are still coping with the aftermath of the February 17 mud rush at the Du Toitspan Joint Shaft diamond mine, in the Northern Cape, while fellow trade union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) says it is shocked and angry at the decision.

Work to recover the bodies of five workers who went missing in the mud rush and are now presumed dead is ongoing.

News outlet News24 reported on Wednesday that the company had confirmed in a statement that rescuers have been unable to detect survivable conditions in the areas where the five employees were working at the time of the mud rush.

The company had also stated that restoring access to the affected operation would take about 10 to 18 months and require significant capital investment, impacting on the viability of Ekapa's broader operations. Ekapa's board had, therefore, decided to apply to court to place Ekapa Resources and Ekapa Minerals into liquidation.

UASA says it acknowledges the severe operational and financial pressures cited by the company but notes that the decision to apply for liquidation comes at a difficult time, as Ekapa employees face the emotional trauma of the mud rush and their missing colleagues and the immediate threat of job loss.

"The potential job losses from this liquidation risk will deepen economic hardship in Kimberley and the surrounding areas," the union adds.

Fellow trade union Solidarity agrees that the liquidation of Ekapa is likely to have a significant impact on communities surrounding the mine.

“The possible liquidation not only affects employees – it is becoming a community crisis. In a region such as the Northern Cape, and specifically Kimberley, alternative employment opportunities are limited. The impact on families and the wider community will be enormous,” says Solidarity Deputy General Secretary Willie Venter.

He also points out that about 1 300 employees are facing immediate unemployment, while some employees have reportedly also not yet received their salaries for February.

AMCU, meanwhile, says moving toward liquidation while the bodies of the five mineworkers remain underground raises profound moral and accountability questions and draws disturbing parallels with past mining tragedies where recovery efforts were halted over the cost of doing so.

“For us, this is not just an announcement. It is a sequence that demands scrutiny. Workers are trapped. A week later they are presumed dead. On the same day, the company declares liquidation.

“We have seen this before. At Lily mine, three workers were trapped underground and, to this day, their families are still waiting. We were told the costs were too high and the recovery too complex. We cannot allow a repeat of that injustice," AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa says.

AMCU stresses that Ekapa's liquidation must not weaken or delay the obligation to recover the bodies of the deceased workers once it is safe to do so, stating that financial distress does not extinguish moral or legal responsibility.

“A worker is not a liability to be written off. You cannot declare insolvency and expect families to accept that their loved ones will remain underground because recovery is expensive. Human dignity is not determined by market conditions,” Mathunjwa asserts.