Stilfontein Mine: Rescue Effort Underway To Extract ‘Unknown Number’ of Illegal Miners
- A rescue operation has been launched at the Stilfontein mine in Klerksdorp to bring up the illegal miners underground
- The provincial government has appointed a private mine rescue team to lead the operation after a standoff with police
- A Community Safety and Transport Management MEC in the North-West spoke to Briefly News about the operation
- Wessels Morweng said a team were clearing a site for the rescues and would determine the exact number of illegal miners
Source: UGC
STILFONTEIN — The situation at the Stilfontein mine has turned into a rescue mission, while the court's ruling on an interim order it granted for relief for those beneath the ground has been postponed.
For over a month, illegal miners have remained underground inside a shaft at the sealed-off facility in Klerksdorp, North-West, reportedly fearing arrest.
Effort underway to extract illegal miners
Police responded to a request for medication antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs from them on Monday, 18 November, after receiving a scribbled note.
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However, authorities said that fulfilling the request would be coordinated.
"The court order [issued in the Gauteng High Court on 16 November, for which we expect a ruling [on 19 November], stated there can be no [physical] contact with the illegal miners, except for emergency personnel.
"On the medication issue, working with the health officials and other departments, it will be delivered in a coordinated way.
"Remember, ARVs can also be misused, i.e., mixed in with other substances, to turn them into [recreational] drugs [such as nyaope]," police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone told Briefly News at the time.
Wessels Morweng, member of the Executive Committee (MEC) for Community Safety and Transport Management in the North-West, spoke to Briefly News about the mine rescue plan the provincial government received from experts.
He noted that despite the over 1,000 who exited the shaft between 18 October and 5 November, those that remained, whom he said were unlikely to be as many as the 4,000 widely reported in the media, it was understood scores were too weak to attempt to resurface.
Thus, the plan to retrieve them necessitated bringing experts from a private company, which Morweng said would be appointed through the relevant government supply chain processes.
He said the plan's first phase, which has been done, involved deploying specialised drilling machinery and informing the illegal miners to avoid the area above them below the surface to avert casualties.
On 20 November, the mine rescue team planned to establish the number of people underground using advanced technology to collect data, which would inform the comprehensive rescue plan and kick-start the extraction process.
"We're going into a dangerous terrain and are [working] to rescue people we didn't send there. That's the harsh message I want to convey. The government did not tell them to go there," Morweng told Briefly News.
"One of the challenges the rescuers noted was the depth of the mine, which is 2.5 to 3km, and they've dealt with a maximum of 1.5km.
"But it comforts me that the rescuers said they could proceed with the plan. Their machinery can reach those depths.
"There are numerous rocks next to the shaft, which present another challenge for them. Large concrete was placed to close its entrance. But the zama zamas, through their illegal means, found a way to open it .
"Hence, the plan is to clear the site first to lessen the danger posed. We don't want any deaths, and we mustn't forget that point. Everyone has a right to life, and we respect that right, which is enshrined in the Constitution."
He said the mission to arrest the illegal miners had not changed, vowing they would be processed and arrested once they surface to deal with the "scourge of illegal mining once and for all".
Morweng said the time it takes for the rescue operation to complete would depend on the number of illegal miners.
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"The data collected will inform how long the mission takes. A volunteer, who returned after going underground to assess, reported 4,500, a number we strongly believe is farfetched," he added.
He said a lift would bring up about 30 people at a time.
"We've sent messages underground, and they were received well. The illegal miners understood what the officials were trying to do, and they understood.
"They've agreed, which is the first step in the plan. It is a risky undertaking, and we don't want to lose any more lives.
"We aren't aware of any more deaths and can only speak with authority once we've deployed machinery to collect information."
Meanwhile, the Society for the Protection of our Constitution's (SPOC) application has been postponed until 21 November.
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Source: Briefly News
