Body of trapped miner retrieved from Stilfontein
The decomposed body of an illegal miner has been recovered from the Stilfontein mine in North West.
Local volunteers helped pull it from the shaft on Thursday morning.
Five miners were rescued on Wednesday.
Over four thousand zama zamas are believed to be trapped.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, community leader Thembile Botman said volunteers used ropes to bring the body to the surface.
"In this operation as we are assisting this is the first dead body that we have retrieved. So, as community leaders we tried to warn SAPS to say, people are dying, you are refusing them access to food. Some of them take medication, so we might not know what killed that person."
READ: Govt ‘won’t help’ trapped Stilfontein illegal miners
About 600 miners emerged from underground after essentials were cut off by police.
The group, Mining Affected Communities United in Action, has called for amnesty for the miners.
National coordinator, Meshack Mbangula, also spoke to Newzroom Afrika, saying the zama zamas fear arrest if they resurface.
He’s asked for proper plans to safely rescue those still underground.
“These people should be granted amnesty because if you look at this case, what they are doing is trespassing. But it’s only so that they can put something [to eat] on the table.”
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