At least 17 illegal miners turned themselves in after surfacing from several abandoned shafts in Stilfontein, on Thursday.
Stilfontein mine latest news: Here’s what we know
A multi-disciplinary SAPS team has been camped at the site of the abandoned mine since late October 2028, lying in wait for thousands of illegal miners cramped underground to surrender.
On Thursday, emergency respondents rushed to process 17 miners who surfaced from two shafts.
In a statement, North West police confirmed that “of the 17 illegal miners, 14 resurfaced from Margaret Shaft and three at Shaft No. 10.”
“The 14 illegal miners that resurfaced at Margaret Shaft, are foreign nationals from Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. They are still being processed,” the police statement read.
This further reinforces the police’s notion that the situation unfolding in Stilfontein is not a humanitarian crisis, but a possible hostile standoff between law enforcement and heavily armed zama zamas.
When this article was published, three more illegal miners were caught on camera surfacing from a shaft.
More than 30 illegal miners captured earlier this week were due in court on Thursday, where proceedings were expected to be brief and remanded for bail verification.
Several miners who spoke to the media have highlighted the inhumane conditions they have endured underground. One boy, aged 14, told News24 he was lured to the Stilfontein site by a friend who promised a good-paying casual job.
When he arrived at the site, the situation quickly escalated and before he could escape, he was under the control of heavily armed men he referred to as ‘snipers’ who used violence to subdue thousands of illegal miners.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is expected to lead a media briefing at noon on Friday to provide “a progress report on measures which will lead to the resurfacing of the illegal miners in the Stilfontein area, where an unknown number of illegal miners remain underground.”
