Hundreds of South African Illegal Miners Trapped Underground, Gov’t Refuses To Send Help

Posted by: Eninu William in World news November 16, 2024

Hundreds of illegal South African gold miners remained stuck underground Friday at an unused mine. South African authorities are refusing to allow supplies down to the miners, who they say are criminals.

Police initially thought some 4,000 illegal miners were underground at the closed Stilfontein mine, about 150 kilometers from Johannesburg.

However, they’ve revised the figure to several hundred but are still denying them food and water as part of “Operation Vala Umgodi” or “close the hole.”

Police say they are trying to force the miners — believed to have been underground for several weeks — to resurface. They say the miners are refusing to come up. This is in fear of arrest, or in the case of undocumented migrants, deportation.

The government loses millions of dollars each year to illegal mining, according to the Minerals Council of South Africa.

“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out,” said Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni earlier this week. “They will come out.”

Anxious relatives have gathered at the mine, hoping to send supplies down to loved ones. On Thursday, a decomposing body was recovered from the shaft.

Some have accused the government of taking an inhumane position. David van Wyk, a researcher at the Bench Marks Foundation, a nonprofit that works on issues surrounding illegal miners, said what is happening at Stilfontein is a “problematic” humanitarian situation.

“The workers got to be there because South Africa is in a transition,” he said. “Large-scale industrial gold mining is no longer profitable, and many mines are shutting down and tens of thousands of workers are losing their jobs.”

There’s a term in South Africa for the men who risk their lives searching for gold deep underground: “zama zamas,” which means “take a chance” in the Zulu language.

Johannesburg, dubbed “egoli” or “city of gold” for the riches that lie beneath, was once a major gold mining hub. Many of the mines have closed, however, and the illegal artisanal miners have gone underground hoping to get what’s left.

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