The government will use a machine to lift and take out the illegal miners situated underground at an abandoned mine in Stilfontein, North West.
However, the government will not disclose the finer details of how the plan will be executed.
This was revealed by North West MEC for community safety and transport management Wessels Morweng, who was speaking to the media on Monday at Stilfontein police station on the government’s plan to resurface illegal miners.
Morweng was joined by deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili during the media briefing.
He said no police officers will be sent underground the old, abandoned Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein to rescue the illegal miners
“No one will be sent down. We do not want to reveal the finer details of the plan because, as much as we are going to rescue the illegal miners, we are dealing with serious, hardcore criminals here.
“We are dealing with zama zamas who rape and murder. We have to be very careful and tactical in how we go about this issue.
“We have to be mindful that we are dealing with people who can intercept our plan and ensure that it does not materialise.
“We have put in place systems to verify the number of people underground, and a machine will be used to lift them up,” said Morweng.
Since last week, residents of Khuma near Stilfontein have gathered near the abandoned mine to help take out the illegal miners whom they say are their relatives.
Khuma community leaders said around 4 500 illegal miners are trapped underground.
Police minister Senzo Mchunu has denied claims that the miners are trapped underground.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said three illegal miners resurfaced on Saturday.
Mathe said one South African was arrested in Kanana on Saturday morning at a house used as a smelter.
She said the person was found to be in possession of gold-bearing material.
She said equipment used in illegal mining operations was also seized in the intelligence-driven operation.
Three illegal miners resurfaced at the abandoned mine on Thursday, while the decomposed body of an illegal male miner was recovered by police.
Mathe said police are yet to establish the identity of the illegal miner and the cause of the death of the illegal miner, who was recovered dead.
Mathe said police have opened an inquest docket to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the illegal miner.
The three illegal miners who resurfaced underground were attended to by paramedics, given food and water, and thereafter they will be processed for their arrest of engaging in illegal mining.
Mathe said police will not allow members of the South African Police Services and the South African National Defence Force to go underground because the owner of the disused mine and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said the mine is not conducive and habitable for human beings.
Mathe added that police and state soldiers will not go underground because there is hazardous gas at the mine and the illegal miners are heavily armed.
She said police have barred community members from giving the illegal miners trapped underground food and water.
Mathe said this is because when police initially allowed the residents to send food and water underground, it was to assist the miners in garnering enough strength to come up the surface.
However, the miners still refuse to resurface, she said.
In the past two weeks, 1 187 illegal miners resurfaced from an abandoned mineshaft in Orkney, North West. This was because of the police’s Operation Vala Umgodi.
Operation Vala Umgodi began in December last year. Since its inception in December 2023 to date, more than 13 691; suspects have been arrested in the 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.
The majority of those that have been arrested include, but are not limited to, South Africans, Mozambicans, and Basotho nationals.
