Plans to ‘extract’ Stilfontein illegal miners ongoing - govt
North West Community Safety MEC Wessels Morweng says plans to extract hundreds of suspected illegal miners from a Stilfontein mine are still ongoing.
Morweng spoke on the sidelines of an announcement of the province's second-quarter crime statistics at the Stilfontein police station on Thursday.
Illegal mining and associated crimes remain a concern in the province, with the latest Vala Umgodi anti-illicit mining operation at the disused Buffelsfontein gold mine drawing attention to the police’s handling of the crime.
Over 1,400 suspected illegal miners have emerged from underground. However, community volunteers have stepped in to rescue the sickly and extract the dead, with no clear time frames given for the government's rescue operation.
Morweng explained the findings of the last efforts, when a camera was lowered down shaft 11, that was carried out nearly a month ago.
“The camera extracted information and, we must make it clear to the public, it shows heavily armed men underground. We must treat the situation with the delicacy it deserves. Section 11 of the Constitution, which speaks about the right to life, also applies to the men and women in blue.”
During his visit to the area last week, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola said deliberations around the funding for the next phase of the rescue operations were underway.
Previously, authorities said it costs the state R1 million, daily, for the mine rescuers to continue working.
READ: Sabie illegal miners’ rescue operation complete
“The minister is working around the clock to make sure that he gets the money for us to proceed with the plan. We must be forthright to the public as we’re accountable to them. Attached to the plan is the issue of money, and we’re respecting government processes of procurement,” Morweng explained.
Meanwhile, speaking to the SABC on Thursday, one of the volunteers said government wasted time when it halted the community-led rescue operation in anticipation of the mine rescue experts taking over.
He said they were happy with the court ruling that allowed them to resume operations and pull miners to the surface – dead or alive.
Community leader Johannes Qankase said they would continue to send much-needed food supplies to those still underground amid reports that they are too weak to resurface.
“We’re still waiting for donations from donors who are assisting us.
Whenever they arrive on site, we take the food down to the people so they can regain their strength and resurface. But that doesn't stop the programme of bringing people up,” added Qankase.
Some miners who emerged through Margaret and 10 Shaft alleged that they were being deprived of food by men they described as 'BaSotho', who were keeping the supplies for themselves.
This week volunteers used their makeshift pulley system to bring up miners who were ill and in need of urgent medical attention.
Since the operation, nine bodies have been retrieved from the 2.5 kilometer deep shaft 11.
According to police, 84 miners have been deported to their country of origin, while less than 20 of the more than 1,400 people arrested are South African.
Most of those detained are from neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Malawi.
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