Illegal gold miners stranded underground by South Africa government

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Illegal gold miners stranded underground by South Africa government

时间：2024-11-16 16:58 来源：未知作者：admin 阅读：次

In short:

Hundreds of underground miners have been denied food and water as South African police try to coax them to the surface.

Authorities believe the miners are undocumented migrants working illegally.

What's next?

Cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni vows not to help the miners, saying: "We are going to smoke them out."

The South African government says it will not help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's north-west province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.

The miners in the mineshaft in Stilfontein — about 150 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg — are believed to be suffering from a lack of food, water and other necessities after police closed off the entrances used to transport their supplies underground.

It is part of the police's Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole, operation, which includes cutting off miners' supplies to force them to return to the surface and be arrested.

Volunteer rescue workers have been helping the miners.

Police had earlier indicated that information received from those who recently helped bring three miners to the surface indicated that up to 4,000 miners may be underground.

However, on Thursday afternoon, local time, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that they believed the number was exaggerated and may be far less than that, estimating a figure of between 350 and 400 miners.

"We feel that the numbers are being exaggerated. We have deployed maximum resources to this case including our intelligence operatives who are on the ground [and] who have engaged with all stakeholders," Ms Mathe said.

"We have managed to estimate the numbers to be between 350 and 400."

Miners stay underground for months

South African ministers of police and defence were expected to visit the mine to engage with officials and community members on the ground, she said.

Stilfontein is one of the mines targeted by police as they intensified their operation in the province of North West from October 18.

It is unclear how long the current group of miners has been underground as groups are reported to often stay underground for months, depending on supplies of necessities like food and water from the outside.

"We have taken a decision that no police officer, no soldier or government official will go down to an abandoned mine. There is a high risk of loss of life," Ms Mathe said.

She said they had information that the miners may be heavily armed, adding that since embarking on operations against illegal miners last December, police had seized more than 369 high-calibre firearms, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 5 million rand ($423,000) in cash and 32 million rand worth of uncut diamonds.

'We are going to smoke them out'

In the past few weeks, more than 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in North West province, with many reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.

Police continued on Thursday to guard areas around the mine to catch all those appearing from underground.

Cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners because they were involved in a criminal act.

"We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped. We didn't send them there," Ms Ntshavheni said.

Illegal mining remains common in South Africa's old gold-mining areas, with miners going in closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.

The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.

Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.

Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed, and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.

By：ABC

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