South Africa's government won't help illegal miners inside closed mine

JOHANNESBURG — 

South Africa's authorities says it won't assistance a radical of amerciable miners wrong a closed excavation successful the country's North West state who person been denied entree to basal supplies arsenic portion of an authoritative strategy against amerciable mining.

The miners successful the mineshaft successful Stilfontein are believed to beryllium suffering from a deficiency of food, h2o and different basal necessities aft constabulary closed disconnected the entrances utilized to transport their supplies underground.

It is portion of the police's Vala Umgodi, oregon Close the Hole, operation, which includes cutting disconnected miners' supplies to unit them to instrumentality to the aboveground and beryllium arrested.

Police had earlier indicated that accusation received from those who precocious helped bring 3 miners to the aboveground indicated that up to 4,000 miners whitethorn beryllium underground.

However, connected Thursday afternoon, constabulary spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that they believed the fig was exaggerated and possibly beryllium acold little than that, estimating a fig of betwixt 350 and 400 miners.

"We consciousness that the numbers are being exaggerated. We person deployed maximum resources to this lawsuit including our quality operative who are connected the crushed who person engaged with each stakeholders.

"We person managed to estimation the numbers to beryllium betwixt 350 and 400," Mathe said.

South African ministers of constabulary and defence are connected Thursday expected to sojourn the excavation to prosecute with officials and assemblage members connected the ground, Mathe said.

Stilfontein is 1 of the mines that were targeted by constabulary arsenic they intensified their cognition successful the North West state from October 18.

It's unclear however agelong the existent radical of miners person been underground, arsenic the groups are reported to often enactment underground for months, depending connected supplies of basal necessities similar nutrient and h2o from the outside.

"We person taken a determination that nary constabulary officer, nary worker oregon authorities authoritative volition spell down to an abandoned mine. There is simply a precocious hazard of nonaccomplishment of life," she said.

Mathe said they had accusation that the miners whitethorn beryllium heavy armed, adding that since embarking connected operations against amerciable miners since past December, constabulary had seized much than 369 precocious caliber firearms, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 5 cardinal rand ($275,000) successful currency and 32 cardinal rand ($1.75 million) worthy of uncut diamonds.

In the past fewer weeks, much than 1,000 miners person surfaced astatine assorted mines successful North West province, with galore reported to beryllium weak, bare and sickly aft going for weeks without basal supplies.

Police proceed connected Thursday to defender areas astir the excavation to drawback each those appearing from underground.

Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters connected Wednesday that the authorities wouldn't nonstop immoderate assistance to the amerciable miners, due to the fact that they are progressive successful a transgression act.

"We are not sending assistance to criminals. We are going to fume them out. They volition travel out. Criminals are not to beryllium helped. We didn't nonstop them there," Ntshavheni said.

Illegal mining remains communal successful South Africa's aged gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to excavation for immoderate imaginable remaining deposits.

The amerciable miners are often from neighboring countries, and constabulary accidental the amerciable operations impact larger syndicates that employment the miners.

Their beingness successful closed mines person besides created problems with adjacent communities, which kick that the amerciable miners perpetrate crimes ranging from robberies to rape.

Illegal mining groups are known to beryllium heavy armed, and disputes betwixt rival groups sometimes effect successful fatal confrontations.