Baxter spoke at the National Day of Health and Safety in Mining conference on Wednesday. 

"While we have made steady progress towards our goal of zero fatalities achieving the lowest level of fatalities in 2019, we have had two successive years of unacceptable and disappointing years of regression in our safety performance," he said.

The number of people who passed on during the past two years in the mining industry has significantly increased.  

"Last year, we lost 74 of our colleagues, compared to 60 of our colleagues that passed away in 2020 versus the 51 fatalities we had in 2019," added Baxter. 

However, the sector seems to be on track in its efforts to reduce the number of fatalities in 2021/2022. 

READ: 'SA must reclaim sovereignty' – ANC launches campaign against undocumented immigrants

Chief Inspector of Mines with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy David Msiza says the industry has seen a 34% reduction in fatalities over the past year. 

"The latest statistics indicate that there has been a 34% reduction in the number of fatal accidents from 29 June 2021 to 19 June 2022. These are the accidents that lead to fatalities. The number of the actual fatalities decreased by 14% from 29 June 2021, to 25 June 2022.

"This is as a result of a single accident that regrettably resulted in four fatalities in the sector. During 2022, one area which has achieved very considerable success was in reducing fall of ground accidents. Once the contributor of mine workers, fall off ground accounts for 4% of the number of occupational deaths in the sector."