Police Minister Senzo Mchunu visits a site where illegal miners are trapped underground in Cooma, Stilfontein on November 16, 2024. (Photo by Elizabeth Sejake/Rapport/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
A total of 1,564 illegal miners have resurfaced and eight bodies have been recovered from an abandoned mine in Stilfontein in the northwest, but authorities are unable to confirm how many more miners remain underground. do not have.
Police spokesperson Brigadier General Sabata Mokgabong said. email and guardian The miners are voluntarily resurfacing from the operational Margaret Shaft.
“There's a cage in there, so when the guards find you underground, they go down there and pull you out,” he said.
He said police had heard there were still people in Shaft 10, but could not confirm the number.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LRH) Jessica Lawrence said the miners were “physically trapped” and could not leave the mine without outside help from above ground.
“It is not correct to suggest that they are choosing to remain in such intolerable conditions. There were initial reports that miners had left the mine, but those people believe that Harmony Gold is part of the “The people trapped in shafts 10 and 11 of the Baffelsfontein gold mine are completely inaccessible underground,” Lawrence said.
“Miners in shafts 10 and 11 are in an unimaginable situation. Shaft 11, where a community-led rescue operation was being carried out before being dismantled, is two kilometers deep. Using a manual rope pulley system “It takes at least 45 minutes to get one miner out, which is almost impossible at this scale,” she said.
“These miners are completely dependent on outside intervention to get out of the mine. Their lives depend on immediate action,” Lawrence said.
On January 2, LHR filed an emergency application with the Constitutional Court on behalf of the Mining Affected Communities in Action. In its application, representatives of the organization shared letters from miners trapped underground.
It is said to have depicted a frightening situation.
“Most of the people have died in Shaft 10. They are forced to climb up Shaft 10, but falls and deaths continue and no bodies have been found,” the letter said.
“We look at the food that is being sent to us, but nothing has changed. People keep dying. The problem is that we have been hungry for a long time. It's coming.''
According to the letter, some of the miners were eating human flesh from the bodies of those who died in Shaft 10.
“We ask for food. We have run out of food. Please, we humbly ask, people are dying constantly… We ask that hunger is the cause of our deaths. I know there is,” he said.
Mokgabon said this M&G The South African Police Service said it was “not responsible for providing all the food”.
“We are there because of the crime of illegal mining being committed. Food was never our deal from the beginning. We want to make sure that everything that is removed is done in an orderly manner. “We were never against reducing food,” he said.
In December, the Pretoria High Court issued an interim order to LHR allowing local residents and charities to provide food, water, and medicine to trapped illegal miners.
Lawrence added that following a court order, some food, water and humanitarian aid was provided to the trapped miners, but it was not enough.
“Unfortunately, the structure that was anchoring the community's manual rope system, which was used for both the delivery of essential goods and the rescue of miners, was destroyed during a police field operation on December 27, 2024. The current situation is extremely dire and life-threatening.”
Mr. Lawrence hopes that the Constitutional Court will grant relief in the form of humanitarian aid, food, water and medicine to the miners trapped underground and ensure that the trapped miners are rescued without delay. He said that
“As a society, we must never allow something like this to happen again. It is unacceptable for us to stand by and watch our government ignore people's lives and dignity, regardless of the circumstances.”
Mokgabon said all those who resurfaced were arrested on charges of illegal mining and, in some cases, charged with trespassing and violating immigration laws.
“We are continuing our operations. Whoever resurfaces will be arrested, processed and detained,” he added.
