It is thought that hundreds of illegal miners are still stranded in a closed gold mine in South Africa, where they will likely starve to death after authorities cut off supplies in an effort to drive them out.
According to a miner and a community leader, police are restricting supplies at a defunct South African shaft in an effort to drive out the hundreds of illegal miners who are said to be underground, causing them to starve.
“There is nothing left for someone to consume, eat, or use to sustain themselves. After being lifted out of the shaft by rope on Friday, 35-year-old miner Ayanda Ndabeni declared on Sunday that “there is nothing left underground for now.”
Last week, one decomposing body was removed from the Stilfontein shaft, which is located around 140 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg. There are concerns that there might be more.
After officials periodically prevented residents from lowering food and water during an almost two-week effort to empty the shaft, about a dozen people have risen again in the last week.
At the abandoned gold mine shaft, a rough hole in the ground in an open veld region where police were stationed on Sunday to check if any more persons emerged, a judge ruled on Saturday that police must remove all limitations.
Community leader Johannes Qankase welcomed the court order and claimed that 600 packets of instant porridge and 600 liters of water were successfully lowered by rope on Saturday.
He claimed that this was the first supply since Tuesday. His words, “We can save lives because now,” “They must get food, they must get water, they must get their medical pills.”
“We’ve seen from the people who have been resurfacing, they are very weak, they are very dehydrated,” he stated.
“Zama zamas”
A local said earlier this week that they were informed there were about 4,000 miners working underneath. According to police, the number was most likely in the hundreds.
Many South Africans are incensed over the response of the authorities, especially the remarks made by Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the minister of the presidency, who told reporters on Wednesday: “Honestly, we’re not sending help to criminals; we’re going to smoke them out.”
Mineral-rich South Africa is reportedly home to thousands of illicit miners, many of whom are foreign nationals, who work in abandoned mine shafts.
Residents accuse the miners of illegal activity and impede mining corporations. They are termed locally as “zama zamas” or “those who try” in Zulu.
Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, a police spokesperson, stated on Sunday, “We are calling on all those illegal miners to resurface.”
According to her, the government has promised to put together a group of mine rescue specialists to recommend a strategy for evacuating every miner.
