SANCO battling to face relatives of illegal miners still hoping for their safe return
On day three of an operation to retrieve zama zamas at an abandoned gold mine in the area.
A rescuer places remains in blue body bags on a vehicle during a rescue operation to retrieve illegal miners from an abandoned gold shaft in Stilfontein on 13 January 2025. Picture: Christian Velcich/AFP
STILFONTEIN - As operations in Stilfontein start to wind down, the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) says it doesn't know how to face the relatives of the illegal miners still holding out for their safe return to the surface.
On day three of an operation to retrieve zama zamas at an abandoned gold mine in the area, volunteers helping with the mission told police and mining experts that the shaft had been cleared.
The volunteers had gone down the shaft in a special cage on Wednesday – searching for illegal miners who were still alive - while helping to recover scores of dead bodies from underground.
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While police and mine rescue teams are yet to do a final sweep of the shaft to verify the claims, SANCO said it's preparing to break some bad news to community members who have not been reunited with their loved ones.
"It's a huge mountain to climb because we must tell them the sad reality we are facing- that we can’t find their relatives. We have nothing to celebrate, we have nothing to be happy about. Perhaps the person who has something to celebrate should be the very same minister who wished to smoke these people out," said SANCO provincial spokesperson, Mzukisi Jam.
Last year, Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni came under fire when she suggested the government would persecute the illegal miners in Stilfontein.