By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A total of 26 illegal miners were arrested at abandoned mineshafts in Stilfontein, North West during ‘Operation Vala Umgodi’.
Four of them resurfaced from the Magaret shaft and 22 at the Buffelsfontein shaft No. 10.
Police spokesperson, Adele Myburgh, said the group faced a range of charges, including trespassing and the possession of gold-bearing materials.
“Since Monday, the 23rd of December, until today [Thursday] at 11 o’clock, a total of 26 illegal miners were placed under arrest for illegal mining.
“Of the 26 illegal miners, they comprise of nine from Lesotho, four Zimbabweans, nine from Mozambique and four South Africans. All of them are still being processed and are expected to appear in the Stillfontein Magistrate Court on Friday, the 27th of December.”
Meanwhile, a recent urgent application by Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), has been dismissed by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The organisation sought an order compelling government to provide humanitarian aid, including medication, food and water to illegal miners who are still underground.
An unknown number of illegal miners remain underground in an effort to evade arrest after police started operation “Vala Umgodi”, which focuses on curbing illegal mining.
The illegal miners operate in some 6,000 disused mines, some of which have connected tunnels or shafts. Mining companies in the past dug vertical tunnels deep underground to reach gold. Unauthorised miners travel into these old, often unstable shafts, and use basic materials like picks and buckets to scoop gold ore.
Miners tend to remain in the mines for long periods, over months sometimes, looking to hit gold and make money. They rely on help from contractors outside who pull them up for a fee. These contractors also supply the miners with food, water, cigarettes and other items by lowering them into the ground. There is an entire economy underground, with food and good prices sold at super high rates.
The illegal trade is controlled by criminal syndicates that fight one another in gang wars or attack the police. Most illegal miners though, are undocumented migrants from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Mozambique, and many are believed to be exploited by the gangs.
Gang members hold some miners at gunpoint in the mines and force them to dig for gold in some cases, according to reports over the years. They also force the miners to pay for their food and water underground.