Gcina Lepheana woke up depressed and tired underground in an abandoned mine on a Thursday morning. He was weak as he had survived on water, vinegar, salt and toothpaste for a month.
Lepheana’s depression faded for a moment when he saw a long rope being dropped down a shaft in a bid to rescue him and other illegal miners holed down in an old gold mine in Stilfontein, North West.
Lepheana grabbed the rope and with the help of other miners he fastened it around his waist, and members of the community pulled him up.
On November 14, Lepheana was one of the three illegal miners who resurfaced from Buffelsfontein mine. On the same day, the decomposed body of an illegal miner was recovered from the mine by residents of Khuma.
Lepheana said he went underground in May.
Speaking to Sunday World on Friday after the conclusion of Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu’s community engagement meeting with families of the illegal miners, referred to as zama zamas, Lepheana said after he resurfaced, police took off his gumboots and tracksuit.
“I only remained with my shorts on. I had nothing on me. I had no gold on me,” said Lepheana.
He said after being body-searched by the police, he was attended to by paramedics on standby near the abandoned mine and received a medical check-up.
“I was put on one drip and thereafter the paramedics told me I was fine. But I was not fine. I had spent the whole of October and part of November with no real food. Food was no longer coming down. I was weak and disorientated,” said Lepheana.
He said after the medical check-up, -police took him to Stilfontein police station, where he did not stay for long as they released him without pressing any charges.
Lepheana said the police told him to go home on foot despite him telling them he was too weak to walk.
He said when he left the police station it was around 7pm and he had to walk from the police station to his home in Khuma extension six, a distance of almost 4km, or a 46-minute walk.
Lepheana said he only walked for 30 minutes and fortunately got a lift from a motorist heading to Khuma. The good samaritan dropped him off at his place.
Lepheana, who is originally from Matatiele, in Eastern Cape, lives with his brother, his sister-in-law and their two children.
Describing life underground, Lepheana said the miners usually had pap, instant porridge, rice, tinned fish, water and cold drinks to sustain them.
“Life underground is fine. We work and eat down there. It is dark where we are. We work mostly with gold,” said Lepheana.
He said he does not know what is sold underground and at what cost.
Mzwandile Mkwayi was part of the group of community members who rescued Lepheana.
“I took him out with my own hands. Paramedics could not even take or feel his pulse because he was so weak. He was taken to an ambulance for assistance,” said Mkwayi.
Mkwayi called on Mchunu to “deal with police officers harassing” community leaders.
“I am not safe. Whenever I hear a siren sound from a police vehicle outside my house, I look through the window to see what is happening. The police always have questions to ask us and harass some of my friends,” said Mkwayi.
Mchunu held a meeting to engage the community on Friday and spoke to families of the illegal miners believed to be still holed underground. The meeting took place at Ngwenya Hotel & Conference Centre in Stilfontein.
It was a follow-up visit to Stilfontein by Mchunu following his visit to the area on November 15.
The minister met with a task team to obtain a progress report on measures, which will lead to the resurfacing of the miners.
The exact number of the illegal miners still holed underground is unknown.
Mchunu said mine ‘s rescue experts have been deployed to the area. He said they had lowered a camera down shaft 11 to investigate how to carry out the rescue operation. The minister said the rescue operation is expected to be finalised soon.
A total of 87 illegal miners resurfaced this week from different shafts of the Buffelsfontein mine.
All the illegal miners who resurfaced this week were arrested and appeared at the Stilfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of illegal mining and some on contravention of the Immigration Act.
Among the illegal miners arrested by the police was a 14-year-old Mozambican boy.
Police said the minor will be handled in terms of the Child Justice Act. Police said the Department of Home Affairs will also work with social workers and a doctor to confirm the age of the minor.
Mchunu said 1 313 illegal miners have resurfaced across North West since August this year through police’s Operation Vala Umgodi.
Operation Vala Umgodi began in December last year. Since its inception, more than 13 691 suspects have been arrested in the seven provinces that are hotspots of illegal mining.
Police have seized R5-million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32-million.
The majority of those who have been arrested include South Africans, Mozambicans and Lesotho nationals.
