Stilfontein Rescue Mission: Government Blamed For Deaths of Illegal Miners

Rescue operations underway in Stilfontein. Over 100 zama zamas have been brought to the surface. Image: XinHua

A rescue operation has been launched in Stilfontein in the North-West after an urgent court application was brought to the High Court by a relative of one of the miners believed to be still in the depths of the earth. The court application was brought to court by Zinzi Tom, who is a sister to Ayanda Tom, one of the zama zamas still trapped deep underground. In response to the court application, the high court ordered the state to send a letter of appointment to Mines Rescue Services for the operation to commence.

Despite the efforts that the state has made in rescuing the illegal miners, Zinzi said that the operation should have been launched much earlier, which could have reduced the death toll by a huge margin. It is reported that she had also interacted with one of the recently rescued miners, who informed her that he had recently seen her brother. This meant that Zinzi was left with a little hope that her brother be brought to surface alive.

During the rescue operation, the authorities brought to surface over fifty illegal miners who were very weak and delicate. This was due to the conditions they lived in in the abandoned mine shafts. At the scene, the forensics department was dressed in full personal proactive equipment and were loading body bags into a truck, a sign of that situation was far from being under control.

According to sources at the scene, the mine rescue services used a cage attached to a crane so they could be able to reach the depths of the mine shaft. The zama zamas that were successfully brought to surface were helped to the nearby ambulance vehicles due to their frail condition. On Tuesday, Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe, along with the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, attended the rescue scene and addressed the community members in a press conference. Meanwhile the community members were protesting nearby, compelling the ministers to address them as well.

The president of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa, Mametwe Sebei, blamed the government and its officials for the loss of lives in the mine. In another report, Zethu Hlatshwayo from the Association of Artisanal Miners said that the ministers should be held accountable for the lives that were lost as the government had purposefully let the miners starve to death on their watch. As the death toll continues to spike, the death of some of the illegal miners is yet to be confirmed.