8 more illegal miners retrieved from Stilfontein abandoned shaft
Phase 3 of an operation to bring hundreds of illegal miners back up to surface kicked off on Monday.
A crane at the site of an abandoned mine in Stilfontein where a mission to rescue illegal miners is underway. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/EWN
STILFONTEIN - Eight more illegal miners have been retrieved from an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein on Tuesday.
Phase 3 of an operation to bring hundreds of illegal miners back up to the surface kicked off on Monday.
It's the final part of a plan to shut down the illegal mining network operating at various shafts at the Buffelsfontein mine in the North West.
More than two dozen illegal miners were rescued on Monday while nine dead bodies were recovered.
READ: Mining expert warns of high risk of Stilfontein rescue mission
A cage has been sent down the shaft this morning.
South African National Civics Organisation's spokesperson in the North West, Mzukisi Jam, weighed in on the operation.
"But we had requested that we must start with the dead bodies so that we prevent a situation where they end up decomposing and so that their families can still identify them. But the police have decided that we must start with the live ones for reasons only known to them, but when I confronted them yesterday they said the forensic did not have enough space to accommodate them."
Relatives of some of the illegal miners at an abandoned mine in Stilfontein have started to arrive where an operation is currently underway to retrieve zama zamas from a shaft underground. They want accountability from Police and Petroleum and Mineral Resources. @khanya_mntambo pic.twitter.com/f9CUJSP6Ay
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) January 14, 2025