Dozens of survivors and dead pulled from illegal South African mine as hundreds remain underground

Police officers and private security personnel stand by the opening of a reformed gold mineshaft where illegal miners are trapped in Stilfontein, South Africa, Friday, Nov.15, 2024. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

STILFONTEIN, South Africa — Months after South African authorities initially cut off supplies to miners working illegally in an abandoned gold mine, rescuers brought dozens of bodies and emaciated survivors to the surface Tuesday with hundreds more still believed to be underground, many of them dead and others too weak to come out on their own.

At least 60 bodies and 92 survivors had been pulled from one of South Africa’s deepest mines since Monday in a red cagelike structure lowered thousands of feet underground, police said. Police are uncertain how many miners remain inside but said it is likely in the hundreds. Another nine bodies were brought out Friday in a community-led rescue effort, according to a group representing the miners.

Residents desperately waiting for news of family members gathered at the mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, some holding placards criticizing authorities for their response. One sign said there had been a “Sacrifice at Stilfontein” while some handcuffed survivors were led away in a line by police.

Authorities say the surviving miners are able to come out and are refusing because of fear of arrest, but that has been disputed by rights groups and activists, who have fiercely criticized police tactics at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, where more than 100 miners are believed to have died of starvation or dehydration.

The mine has been the scene of a tense standoff between police, miners and mefmbers of the local community since authorities launched an operation in November to force the miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface for a period of time.

At the time, a Cabinet minister said the aim was to “smoke them out” and the government would not send help because they were “criminals.”

Civic groups won a court case to force authorities to allow food, water and medicine to be sent down to the miners. But they say the supplies aren’t enough and many of the miners are dying of starvation and unable to climb out because the shaft is too steep and the ropes and pulley system they used to enter have been removed.

The community organized its own rescue operation on Friday before the official effort by authorities began Monday. They say a proper rescue operation should have been launched months ago.

“We are happy that this operation is happening, even though we believe that if it was done earlier, we wouldn’t even have one dead person,” said Mzukisi Jam, the regional chairperson of the South African National Civics Organization, an umbrella for civic and rights groups.

Authorities have grappled with informal mining for years

Illegal mining is common in parts of gold-rich South Africa where companies close down mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to enter them illegally in a search for leftover deposits.

Large groups of miners often go underground for months to maximize their profits, taking food, water, generators and other equipment with them, but also relying on others in their group on the surface to send down more supplies.

Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe visited the site Tuesday and said that more than 1,500 miners who resurfaced from the Buffelsfontein mine have been arrested since authorities began a larger crackdown on illegal mining in late 2023. He said the vast majority were foreign nationals from neighbouring countries.

Police have also doubled down on their assertion that the miners who are still underground aren’t coming out because they are afraid of being arrested.

Activists said the only way out is for miners to make a dangerous trek to another shaft, which can take days, and crawl out there, but many are too weak or ill to climb out. The mine is 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) deep with multiple shafts, many levels and a maze of tunnels. The group representing the miners said there are numerous groups in various parts of the mine.

“The last time I spoke to my brother was in July, when he told us that he is going underground,” said Zinzi Tom, a sister of one of the miners who remained underground. “We had not heard anything from him, but yesterday one of the miners who surfaced said he saw him about two weeks ago. Apparently he is very sick and he is struggling to survive.”

Cellphone videos emerge from underground

The Mining Affected Communities United in Action group, which took authorities to court in December to force them to allow supplies to be sent down to the miners, released two cellphone videos that they said were from underground and showed dozens of dead bodies of miners wrapped in plastic. A spokesman for the group said “a minimum” of 100 miners had died.

The cellphone videos purportedly from the depths of the mine are filmed by a man who can be heard saying, “This is hunger. People are dying because of hunger,” as he records emaciated-looking men sitting on the damp floor of the mine. He adds: “Please help us. Bring us food or take us out.”

The rescue operation will go on for 10 days and authorities would then reassess, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said. Police also said that the survivors who had been brought to the surface will be arrested and charged with illegal mining and trespassing after receiving medical attention.

Authorities have come under scrutiny for their tactics after South African Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters in November that the government would not help the miners, who they consider criminals.

“We are not sending help to criminals,” she said. “We are going to smoke them out. They will come out.

She added: “Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted.”

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.