South Africa: Miners Resurface Following Police Operation

Miners in South Africa reappear after a police operation aimed at addressing illegal mining activities, raising questions about the impact of the crackdown.

Rescue teams persisted in their efforts to save survivors from among the hundreds of miners who had been working illegally in an abandoned shaft and were trapped there for months.

Over 100 people are thought to have perished from starvation or dehydration.

According to the police, at least 24 bodies and 37 survivors have been recovered from Buffelsfontein Gold Mine since Friday. However, civic organizations and miners’ groups claim that more than 500 individuals are still trapped underground, with many reportedly ill and starving.

According to the police, they are unsure about the exact number remaining, but it is probably in the hundreds.

Mannas Fourie, the CEO of Mines and Rescue Service, stated that rescuers encountered challenges during the “dangerous operation” and were forced to begin later than planned because of equipment issues.

He mentioned that they will keep working until late at night and have already rescued 35 people.

Since November, a tense standoff has unfolded at the mine near Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg. The confrontation involves police, miners, and local community members after authorities initiated an operation to try to evict the miners.

According to the relatives of the miners, some have been underground since July.

Authorities claim that the miners can exit but are refusing to do so. However, this statement has been contested by rights groups and activists who have harshly criticized police tactics for cutting off food and water supplies to the miners from the surface last year in an effort to force them out.

Civic groups successfully won a court case, compelling authorities to permit the delivery of food, water, and medicine to the miners.

However, they report that the supplies are insufficient, leading to many miners suffering from starvation and unable to escape because the shaft is too steep. Additionally, the ropes and pulley system used for entry have been taken away.

According to them, an adequate rescue operation should have been initiated several months earlier.

In the past two months, some miners have surfaced and subsequently been arrested.

The police say this indicates they are allowed to come out.

However, a spokesperson from the rights group representing the miners and their families stated that those who managed to escape endured a perilous journey spanning several days underground to reach another shaft. Many are too weak now to make such an arduous trek again.