North West police have revealed that they are still identifying the bodies of 93 illegal miners discovered in Buffelsfontein Gold Mine hole No. 11 between December 2024 and January.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said the procedure followed post-mortem examinations of all 93 bodies.
Nine bodies were retrieved to the surface by a pulley system, with community members retrieving the bodies with a rope.
This occurred between December 3, 2024 and January. Mokgwabone said the remaining 78 bodies were brought to the surface between January 13 and 15. This was as part of the police Mine Rescue Operation.
Seven identified, handed to family from Mozambique
“Five suspected illegal miners died while admitted to hospitals between Monday, 20 January, and Wednesday, 12 February 2025. Of this number, four resurfaced at Buffelsfontein Shaft No. 11 and one at Margaret Shaft,” he said.
Mokgwabone said during the investigation into the inquest dockets of the nine initial bodies, three were successfully identified and handed to family members; all from Mozambique.
As part of investigations, Mokgwabone said DNA samples were obtained from 78 bodies. These were the ones retrieved during the Mine Rescue Operation.
“Furthermore, 54 fingerprints were obtained from 78 bodies for comparison. This process resulted in the identification of 10 bodies through previous arrests in the country,” he said.
Seven bodies were identified by their families in Mozambique. One came from Zimbabwe, one from Lesotho, and one from South Africa.
Public urged to come forward with missing relatives
“To get more identifications, members of the public and the community who do not know where their next of kin are and they know or suspect that they were working in and around Khuma and Stilfontein as zama zamas were requested to get in contact with the investigation team at Stilfontein Police Station on specific days between 04 and 14 February 2025.”
He said this has resulted in the collection of 45 control samples. Eighteen samples were taken from Mozambique nationals and six Lesotho nationals. Eight next of kin who are Zimbabwean nationals came forward to give their samples. This while 12 family members were from South Africa, with only one from Botswana.
