• Police wait for more than 4,000 miners to resurface from abandoned mine shaft in the North West
• Community members who entered the shaft to speak to the miners confirmed that some were already dead.
• The North West Police spokesperson confirmed the men will be arrested when they resurface.

NORTHWEST – Concerns are expressed about the health and safety of illegal miners still trapped underground.

About 4,000 miners remain underground in an abandoned mine shaft, but community members said some have already died.

More than 1,000 minors have already resurfaced since the start of Operation Vala Umgodi.

Miners trapped underground in poor condition

Vala Umgodi, a joint operation between the SAPS and SANDFforced many miners to the surface by cutting off their food and water supplies.

While this resulted in the arrest of more than 1,000 miners, it also left many of them beneath the surface who are too fragile to leave.

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Community members who recently entered the mines confirmed to police that many of them were in poor condition. After police said it was too dangerous for their officers to enter the wellcommunity members volunteered to go to the abandoned mine to speak to those below.

“The volunteer estimates that around 4,000 illegal miners are still trapped underground, and it is evident that some of them are not in good health health-wise.

“We were also told that some had died. We cannot dispute the information. We are taking what he gave us,” said North West police spokesperson General Sabata Mokgwabone.

Some miners have been in the pit for months and even their family members don’t know if they are okay.

The minors will be arrested after resurfacing

While the main concern of the police is to ensure that the miners are brought to the surface, Mokgwabone confirmed that they will arrest those who are brought to the surface.

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“Unfortunately, we will have to arrest them when they resurface, as illegal mining is a criminal offense. We will have to deal with them according to the laws of the land,” Mokgwabone said.

SAPS arrests over 140 zama zamas

In another article, In brief News reported that North West Police arrested more than 140 illegal miners.

Police pounced on them at a mine at Stilfontein in Potchefstroom and handcuffed them.

Many of them were undocumented foreigners who had been brought to work in the mine.

Source: In Brief News