Rescue operations in Stilfontein, North West, where over 4 000 illegal miners are believed to be trapped underground, was temporarily halted on Sunday as some of the miners have begun to return to the surface.
This comes after a court order that was handed down by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ordering the unblocking of Shaft 11, where the miners have been hiding from police who wanted to arrest them upon resurfacing.
The situation at the unused mine escalated in the past few weeks when police and the SANDF cut off routes that allowed miners to access food, water, and other necessities as part of their increased efforts to stop illegal mining, compelling miners to come to the surface.
While 1 000 miners resurfaced from mines in the area after supply routes were blocked, the illegal miners refused to resurface at Stilfontein as they would face arrest, while residents in the area argued that the miners need assistance.
Earlier this week, a local resident claimed there were about 4 000 miners underground. But police said the figure was probably in the hundreds.
The community launched rescue operations in a bid to get miners back to the surface. It is understood that the operations will resume on Monday.
In Saturday’s ruling, Judge Brenda Neukircher’s directive was that the shaft must remain accessible, and no non-emergency personnel be allowed to enter.
The court underscored the urgency of allowing the miners to exit safely while limiting the interference of policing efforts aimed at enforcing the law.
The interim ruling stated that the shaft may not be blocked “by any person or institution whether government or private”. It also emphasised that any miners trapped in the mineshaft must be permitted to exit, while non-emergency personnel are barred from entering.
The Society for the Protection of our Constitution initiated the court application. Locals were able to lower 600 packets of instant porridge and 600 litres of water by rope on Saturday, community leader Johannes Qankase told AFP, welcoming the court order. This was the first supply since Tuesday, he said.
“We can save lives because now,” he said, “They must get food, they must get water, they must get their medical pills.”
“We’ve seen from the people who have been resurfacing, they are very weak, they are very dehydrated,” he said.
The court ruling came after Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on Friday established a technical rescue team to conduct a risk assessment that will inform an operational plan to assist in bringing the illegal miners to the surface.
Mchunu, joined by his deputy Cassel Mathale, Premier Lazarus Mokgosi and Community Safety and Transport MEC Wessels Morweng visited the mineshaft.
However it remains to be seen whether the rescue plan will go ahead as the case is expected to return to court on Tuesday for the ministers of police, health, mineral resources, and co-operative governance and traditional affairs, to make their representations.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe reaffirmed that law enforcement officers would not risk entering the precarious mineshaft. Asked about the situation on Sunday, Mathe said that police have kept a static presence at the mineshaft.
“It is not true that we blocked the mineshaft entrances. We have complied with the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to allow the illegal miners to leave the mineshaft. We did prevent food and water from going down as a way to get the miners to come to the surface. However, we did on two occasions allow food to be taken down. We have to maintain our presence as what is going on is illegal.”
Mathe added that miners who come up to surface in good health will be detained and those who need medical help will be assisted by emergency services.