SAPS To Lower Food to Illegal Miners From Monday to Friday As Stilfontein Rescue Operation Continues
- The police will lower food to the illegal miners underground at the Stilfontein mine every day except on weekends
- The Gauteng High Court in Tshwane made the ruling in a postponed interim order application for humanitarian aid
- The non-governmental organisation Mining Affected Communities United in Action brought forward the application
Source: Original
STILFONTEIN — The Mining Affected Communities United in Action's (MACUA) application for aid and medication for the illegal miners at the Stilfontein mine suffered another postponement in the Gauteng High Court in Tshwane.
Scores of illegal miners have been holed up at the abandoned facility in Klerksdorp, North West, for countless weeks.
SAPS to lower food to illegal miners
The high court granted the non-governmental organisation (NGO) an interim order to deliver food and water to the miners on Sunday, 1 December 2024.
It postponed the full application hearing to 5 December after dismissing the Society for the Protection of our Constitution's (SPOC) main application on 21 November.
What you need to know about the Stilfontein standoff
- The South African Police Service (SAPS) and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) launched Operation Vala Umgodi to clap down on illicit mining in the Bojanala Platinum District in December 2023
- Over 1,000 illegal miners have resurfaced from an abandoned mine shaft at the sealed-off facility between 18 October and 5 November
- Deportation orders were granted in court for arrested persons who resurfaced and appeared in court after charges were withdrawn
- Police retrieved a decomposed body from the shaft on 14 November, and three more zama zamas rose back to the surface the same day
- The High Court granted an interim court order on 16 November instructing police to unblock a shaft after the Society for the Protection of our Constitution (SPOC) applied for relief for the illegal miners
- The North-West provincial government on 18 November launched a retrieval operation for the illegal miners with the help of a private rescue team
- On the same day, the illegal miners sent a note requesting antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment for HIV/ AIDS
- The Gauteng High Court in Tshwane dismissed the SPOC's interim order for humanitarian aid for the illegal miners on 21 November
Following the interim order, community volunteers sent Mageu, instant porridge and water underground on 2 and 3 December.
MACUA's case has since been postponed until 12 February 2025.
The South African Police Service (SAPS), a respondent in the matter, jointly launched Operation Vala Umgodi with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to crack down on illicit mining in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality.
This led to the Stilfontein mine standoff after a task team severed food and water supplies from surrounding communities to the miners.
Since then, over 1,400 illegal miners have resurfaced from an abandoned mine shaft at the sealed-off facility since 18 October.
Police national commissioner General Fannie Masemola said at a subsequent media briefing that SAPS had raised concerns about implementing the interim order at the high court hearing.
"We believe continually supplying food, water and [other essentials undermines] our [efforts] to stop the ongoing illicit mining," he said.
"While the matter was postponed, the court varied the interim order [granted on 1 December] did not limit the supply of food and necessities. [However], limitations were enforced as of [5 December],."
The court ordered that food and water be supplied from Monday to Friday between 8am and 4pm. No food will be lowered on weekends.
Authorities will no longer send hazardous substances such as paraffin, gas, and diesel to those underground.
Masemola said the loss of life was regrettable after volunteers and emergency personnel retrieved six bodies in two days on 3 and 4 December.
"It highlights the dangerous and unsafe conditions in which these illegal miners operate. Post-mortem reports will reveal the real cause of these illegal miners' deaths," he added.
"We maintain that it is unsafe for any human being to be underground in those disused mine shafts. [Again], providing food and essentials to the illegal miners underground defeats Operation Vala Umgodi's purpose. Such provisions will only encourage continuous illicit mining."
150 illegal miners trapped in Mpumalanga
In a related news report, Briefly News wrote that a similar situation to the ongoing standoff at the Stilfontein mine, where hundreds, possibly thousands of illegal miners remain underground, played out in Mpumalanga.
It comes after police confirmed three deaths as about 150 illegal miners were reportedly trapped inside a shaft at an abandoned mining facility in Sabie, 62km outside Nelspruit, uncovered on 3 December.
Source: Briefly News
