Police will continue to act against illegal miners at an abandoned mine shaft in Stilfontein, North West, despite an interim court order preventing them from blocking the shaft where hundreds of illegal miners remain underground.
Police remain in and around the area as part of Operation Vala Umgodi, a crackdown aimed at tackling illegal mining.
A South African Police Service member stands guard near an entrance to the disused gold mine shaft in Stilfonteinon on 17 November 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Stringer)
On Saturday, 16 November 2024, Judge Brenda Neukircher of the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria handed the miners underground a lifeline when she ordered authorities to allow food and water supplies for the starving and dehydrated illegal miners underground.
The exact number of zama zamas underground is not clear. While some say there are more than 4,000, police have disputed the figure, saying their intelligence suggests there are only hundreds.
The court also gave emergency services a green light to enter the mine shaft, which had previously been blocked by police. Among other reasons, the police said it was unsafe to access the shafts and potentially hazardous gases were present.
Read more: ‘Even prisoners aren‘t left to die’ – community supports zama zamas
Neukircher also ordered that any miners trapped in the mine be permitted to exit pending the finalisation of the matter, which is due to be heard on Tuesday, 19 November 2024.
The order came after the Society for the Protection of our Constitution approached the court on an urgent basis.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said: “The order does not in any way prevent SAPS from performing its constitutional mandate.”
More than 1,000 miners have resurfaced at this mine, according to the police, as a result of the ongoing Operation Vala Umgodi, which was launched in 2023 as companies such as Sibanye-Stillwater reported a surge in illegal mining activities, including direct attacks on mine operations and infrastructure, driven by soaring gold prices.
The entrance to the disused gold mine shaft in Stilfontein where police have blocked the mine in an attempt to force the illegal mineers inside to exit. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Stringer)
On Sunday, DefenceWeb reported President Cyril Ramaphosa had told Parliament he had extended the deployment of 1,100 SANDF members in the operation for another six months at a cost of R140-million. Since it was established, it has also led to the recovery of uncut diamonds, more than R5-million in cash and unlicensed weapons.
Arrests to continue
For the past week, scores of community members, mostly men, continued with efforts to rescue and retrieve those trapped underground using ropes. The shaft is estimated to be about two to three kilometres deep.
Last week, Daily Maverick witnessed the resurfacing of two miners who appeared to be frail and dehydrated.
Mathe said all those who resurfaced would continue to be assessed by emergency medical personnel on site.
“Those that are in good health will be processed and detained. Those that require further medical care will be taken to hospital under police guard,” she said.
“The court order does not prevent police from “stamping its authority” and police will remain stationed in the mine.
“Our responsibility here is to prevent and combat criminality, and that is exactly what we are doing. As the SAPS, it’s to prevent illegal miners from going underground to continue with illicit mining activities,” Mathe said.
Earlier this month, at least 565 illegal gold miners were arrested in Orkney, about 26km from Stilfontein, after police cut off their food and water supplies, forcing them to surface.
In a statement at the time, police described the strategy as an “act of stamping the authority of the state”. Mathe denied using the same tactic in Stilfontein.
Read more: Hundreds of illegal miners arrested after underground food and water supplies cut
While it is feared some miners in Stilfonteion have since died as a result of being deprived of food and water, one body has been retrieved from the shaft and other miners have been taken to hospital.
On Saturday, police confirmed the arrest of a South African national in Kanana who was arrested at a house used as a smelter.
“The suspect was found to be in possession of gold-bearing material. Equipment used in illegal mining operations was also seized in this intelligence-driven operation,” Mathe said.
Human rights complaint
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has received a formal complaint from a community leader in Stilfontein, alleging that police had blocked for nearly three months the delivery to a mine shaft of essential supplies such as food, water and medication.
The police, according to the complainant, had intended to pressure miners to resurface.
The complaint further claims that these actions may have resulted in, or could lead to, the loss of life, violating the miners’ right to life as protected under Section 11 of the Constitution. The commission said it had begun an investigation.
The government has decided not to send aid due to the presence of toxic and hazardous gases, making rescue efforts too dangerous. Last week, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said no help would be sent to criminals.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. We are not sending help to criminals. Criminals are not to be helped, criminals are to be persecuted.”
“We didn’t send them there, and they didn’t go down there with good intentions for the republic, so we can’t help them,” Ntshavheni said.
Mathe indirectly echoed Ntshavheni’s remarks, saying no law enforcement official would be sent underground.
“I have indicated numerous times that as a responsible government, we are not going to allow our men and women in blue to go down there.”
The decision was taken after consultation with the mining company and the Department of Mineral Resources.
“They are telling us that it is unsafe. It is inhumane to allow people to go down there,” she said.
Advocate Jonas Sibanyoni, a former SAHRC commissioner, criticised the government’s handling of the humanitarian crisis, which he said infringed upon several fundamental rights including the right to life, food and water.
“It is the duty, the responsibility of the authorities to give them assistance otherwise they are violating the Constitution, the Bill of Rights,” Sibanyoni told Newzroom Afrika.
Policing risks
Willem Els, a security expert at the Institute for Security Studies, told Daily Maverick any attempts to force out the illegal miners stuck underground might be a protracted and dangerous operation.
“Zama zamas are armed to the teeth with AK47s and will not hesitate to fire on police officers or rescue workers descending into the mine shaft. Sending a police officer is like sending him to his death.
“The situation we are facing at Stilfontein mine is more like a hostage drama where a hostage negotiator is needed to defuse the situation. Another major issue is the hazardous methane in mines,” said Els.
Els is well aware of the dangers involving policing illegal mining. He was a member of the SAPS bomb disposal unit in 2006 when one of his colleagues was shot in the leg by zama zamas during an operation at Western Deep in Krugersdorp.
He said another police officer was killed in 2016 at Masimong Mine in Free State after an explosive was thrown at him.
“At the Western Deep Mine, zama zamas fired on mine security, prompting SAPS to intervene. When SAPS got involved, the zama zamas planted roadside bombs inside mine shafts to explode when mine security or SAPS soldiers moved too close to them,” said Els.
“At the Masimong Mine, the zamas zamas set fire to a half-litre plastic milk bottle filled with explosives and a fuse before throwing it at SAPS or mine security members.”
On what should be done to improve legislation dealing with illegal mining, Els said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted a Protocol on Mining almost 20 years ago.
The protocol called on member states to harmonise their policies on mineral extraction and encourage private sector developments – including small-scale projects that promoted the economic empowerment of those who had historically been disadvantaged in the mining sector.
“It appears that the implementation of the protocol was neglected. Last year, at a workshop in Botswana, when the protocol was debated, it appears that SADC’s frustration stemmed from the protocol’s lack of implementation.
“If the protocol [had been] implemented by member states it would have addressed most of the problems that South Africa is experiencing in terms of zama zamas,” Els told Daily Maverick. DM