Khuma residents in Stilfontein, North West, have sent food and water down Shaft 11 of the abandoned Buffelsfontein gold mine.
According to Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, a spokesman for the national police, the residents sent water, instant porridge, and mageu to zama zamas on Monday and Tuesday.
According to Mathe, the police are not participating in the process of bringing food and water down the abandoned mine; instead, they are monitoring the process.
A Pretoria High Court order directing the ministers of mineral resources, police, North West community safety and transport management, as well as a number of other respondents, to provide humanitarian aid, such as food, water, and medication, to the miners holed underground at shafts 10 and 11 of the Buffelsfontein gold mine, has led to the provision of food and water.
Twenty-one illegal miners resurfaced at various shafts of the Buffelsfontein gold mine on Monday.
Four of the 21 illegal miners resurfaced at Shaft 10, and 17 of them did so at Margaret Shaft. Nine Zimbabweans and 12 Mozambicans made up the 21 illegal miners.
After their arrest, the police took them into custody and scheduled their appearance at the Stilfontein magistrate’s court for Tuesday.
14-year-old boy among those arrested
According to Mchunu, mine rescue specialists have been sent to the scene and have lowered a camera to shaft 11 to observe how the state’s rescue effort will proceed.
He promised that the government’s rescue effort would soon be completed.
Last week, 87 illegal miners reappeared from various shafts of the abandoned Buffelsfontein mine.
They appeared at the Stilfontein Magistrates’ Court after their arrest. One of the illegal miners who was arrested is a 14-year-old boy from Mozambique.
According to police, the minor will be dealt with in accordance with the Child Justice Act.
The Department of Home Affairs will also collaborate with social workers and a doctor to verify the minor’s age, according to the police.
Operation Vala Umgodi
According to Mchunu, since August of this year, 1 313 illegal miners have resurfaced as a result of police’s Operation Vala Umgodi.
The operation began in December last year.
Since its inception in December 2023 to date, more than 13 691 suspects have been arrested in seven provinces that are hotspots for illegal mining.
Police have seized R5-million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32-million through Operation Vala Umgodi.
South Africans, Mozambicans, and Basotho nationals make up the majority of those arrested.
