Stilfontein retrieval mission: 'We are being sidetracked' on extortion claims, says top cop
It emerged last week that authorities were investigating a community leader in the area who allegedly demanded a 30% cut from a team of rescuers deployed by Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu at the old Buffelsfontein gold mine.
Police in Stilfontein awaiting illegal miners to resurface underground, 15 November 2024. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
STILFONTEIN - Police in the North West have reversed their claims that extortionists have frustrated attempts to bring illegal miners from an abandoned shaft in Stilfontein to the surface.
It emerged last week that authorities were investigating a community leader in the area.
The man allegedly demanded a 30% cut from a team of rescuers deployed by Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu at the old Buffelsfontein gold mine.
ALSO READ:
- Stilfontein mine: Final step to get illegal miners to surface yet to get under way
- NW govt yet to see report on assessments at abandoned Stilfontein mine
Contractors on-site have been tasked with establishing a plan to bring zama zamas or illegal miners back to the surface and shut down an illegal underground network that has been running for years.
The operation, set up recently, reportedly costs more than R1 million a day.
Deputy Provincial Commissioner for policing Patrick Asaneng has now dismissed the extortion claims.
“None of the mine rescue teams has ever said, ‘I was approached, there was this extortion,’ but there is this narrative that is there, and for us as police, it is tantamount to chasing after ghosts. We are being sidetracked to focus on non-existent issues and then we lose focus.”