150 Illegal Miners Trapped in Mpumalanga Abandoned Mine, 3 Confirmed Dead

• Another situation involving illegal miners is unravelling at an abandoned mining facility in Sabie in Mpumalanga
• Police uncovered the activity at the sealed-off mine on Tuesday, 3 December 2024, and have since confirmed three deaths
• It comes at the same time as the number of illegal miners' bodies retrieved at the Stilfontein mine reached seven on 4 December

NELSPRUIT — Amid the ongoing standoff with hundreds, possibly thousands of illegal miners at the Stilfontein mine in the North West, a similar situation is playing out in Mpumalanga.

Police confirmed the deaths of three illegal miners as about 150 illegal miners were reportedly trapped inside a shaft at an abandoned mining facility in Sabie, 62km outside Nelspruit, uncovered on Tuesday, 3 December 2024.

150 illegal miners trapped in Mpumalanga

Police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli said a private security company was patrolling farmland near the site when they were led to the discovery.

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"They ran into four men who were fleeing. After suspecting them of illicit mining, the men said they and others were trapped at a mine," he said.

Various SAPS [South African Police Service] units, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the provincial Health Department, and others, including Home Affairs, responded to the site on 4 December. He said six illegal miners had resurfaced.

"Operation Vala Umgodi members were [also] dispatched to the site. Two foreign nationals, aged 23 and 24, and four South Africans were rescued."

According to the group, their captors had forced them to mine for gold under dangerous and dire conditions.

"Police believe the [people] running the illicit operation are possibly heavily armed after a shootout between zama zamas and police on 28 November."

Mdhluli said three suspects were killed in the altercation while a police K9 Unit officer was injured.

Acting Mpumalanga Provincial Commissioner Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi said law enforcement was actively monitoring the situation.

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"All [the] relevant stakeholders, including search and rescue teams, are currently at the scene, and visibility in the area has been increased to ensure the community's safety," said Mkhwanazi.

At the Stilfontein mine, the death toll has since risen to seven after four bodies were recovered on Wednesday, following two a day earlier and adding to the first one retrieved on 14 November.

Source: Briefly News