South Africa starts rescuing illegal gold miners trapped for months

An operation to rescue illegal gold miners stranded in deep underground shafts in South Africa’s North West province got under way on Monday, ending a months-long stand-off over their fate.

Civil rights groups say at least 100 people have died from starvation since October when the authorities sealed off shafts at the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein about 156km southwest of Johannesburg, to deny the miners access to food in a bid to force them to the surface.

The government initially took a tough stance, saying it wouldn’t help rescue people participating in illegal activities, and the police stood by while members of a community near the mine operated a makeshift rope-pulley system to retrieve people from 2km under ground. Some of those who resurfaced were arrested, but were later released.

A legal settlement was reached last week whereby the South African government agreed to facilitate the rescue. Photo / 123rf

It’s unclear exactly how many people remain underground and are unable to resurface, with some estimates putting the number at least 1000.

“They have gambled with the lives of our brothers,” Zinzi Tom, whose brother is trapped underground and spearheaded a lawsuit to force the government to retrieve those still stranded, said outside the mine on Monday. “We have knocked on many doors asking and pleading with government for help, and the response was that they were going to smoke them out. They didn’t care whether these people come out alive or not.”

A legal settlement was reached last week whereby the government agreed to facilitate the rescue, and the Department of Mineral Resources and the Minerals Council, an industry body, teamed up to help fund it. The operation is expected to cost about 12 million rand ($1.1 million).

Heavy machinery and at least eight forensic pathology vans were seen entering the mine site on Monday.

The department said it had begun talks in December with the mine owners, who have a legal duty to fund the operation to retrieve the miners, but they had pleaded poverty.

The problem of illegal mining isn’t unique to Stilfontein – there are about 6000 abandoned mines strewn throughout the country and several them have been accessed by informal miners known locally as zama zamas. South Africa and its mining industry lose about 70 billion rand a year to those who mine gold illegally, according to the government.