A total of 152 illegal miners have been retrieved from underground Shaft 11 of the old Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein, North West, since the start of government’s rescue operation on Monday.
National police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said as of 7.45pm on Tuesday, 152 illegal miners were extracted from underground.
92 rescued illegal miners alive, 60 are dead
Out of the illegal miners retrieved, 92 are alive, and 60 are dead.
Mathe said 35 illegal miners were retrieved during day one of the operation on Monday. A total of nine illegal miners were certified dead.
Mathe said 117 illegal miners were extracted during day two of the operation on Tuesday. A total of 66 are still alive, and 51 have been certified as dead.
She stated that from the total 152 extracted by 7.45pm on Tuesday, 92 are still alive and have been arrested.
“All that have been arrested are facing illegal mining, trespassing and contravention of the immigration act charges. Two illegal miners who were found in possession of gold have also been charged with being in the illegal possession of gold-bearing material,” said Mathe.
Regular updates
She said the joint operation will continue to provide a regular update on the figures on a daily basis.
Mathe said Tuesday’s government operation was to continue until 10pm.
Government’s rescue operation to retrieve the illegal miners holed underground began on Monday morning. It is working with rescue company Mines Rescue Services (MRS) to retrieve the illegal miners. They are holed underground Shaft 11 of the old Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein.
It is estimated that 550 illegal miners are holed underground. And 109 dead bodies are underground at Shaft 11.
The rescue operation will cost government an estimated R12-million.
Earlier on Tuesday, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe visited the site. This is the Shaft 11, where the government-led rescue operation is taking place.
Government-led rescue operation
MRS CEO Mannas Fourie is also on site during the government-led rescue operation.
Fourie said MRS starts their shift at 6am until 10pm daily.
Mchunu said police have not yet established the cause of death and identities of the dead bodies. These were retrieved from underground since Monday. The minister was speaking to members of the media at the site.
Mchunu said police are still waiting for the post-mortem results from the forensic pathology teams.
At the site of Shaft 11, a mobile rescue winder could be seen. Fourie said the mobile rescue winder lowers a cage underground to retrieve the illegal miners.
Meanwhile, there were chaotic scenes when Mchunu and Mantashe went to address community members. The Khuma, Stilfontein community members were stationed a few metres away from the site of Shaft 11.
Rowdy, chaotic reception by community members
When Mchunu and Mantashe arrived there, president of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) Mametlwe Sebei started addressing community members.
Sebei said the government should be held criminally liable for the deaths of 109 people. These were the illegal miners underground the abandoned mine.
While addressing community members, Mchunu approached Sebei and said he cannot speak for a long time. He told him to give the ministers an opportunity to speak.
Sebei refused, and Mchunu shouted: “You are rude” and left the crowd of community members.
Mantashe left the crowd moments afterwards.
This prompted the community members to shout at the ministers, calling them “murderers” and “cowards”.
Some community members shouted “Voetsek” as the ministers were leaving.
