NGO criticises slow pace in retrieving illegal miners from abandoned Stilfontein mine

STILFONTEIN - Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Lawyers for Human Rights has criticised the slow pace in retrieving hundreds of illegal miners from an abandoned shaft in Stilfontein.

It has been almost two weeks since a task team was appointed to drive plans to bring zama zamas at the old Buffelsfontein gold mine to the surface.

This is part of broader plans to shut down illegal underground networks in the area.

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While phases one and two of the plan have been completed by mining experts, the final phase is yet to commence.

The third and final phase will involve sending an unmanned cage down the shaft to haul the zama zamas up.

However, an attorney for Lawyers for Human Rights, Mametlwe Sebei, said delays in finalising the rescue operation would come at the cost of human lives.

“We are going to be preparing papers and to approach court on an urgent basis because every hour, every day that is wasted on this means hundreds of lives are going to be lost. The idea that you are going to starve to death hundreds of people in order to potentially force a small group of people that are most probably involved in crimes that are going to be prosecuted by police is simply cruel and inhumane.”