‘I don’t know what my family will eat’ – Illegal miner in Stilfontein desperate to return underground for survival

Illegal miners

Cape Town – An illegal miner in Stilfontein, North West, has reportedly expressed desperation to return to mining after being forced to resurface due to police cutting off food and water supplies to shut down operations.

Speaking anonymously to EWN, he revealed his struggle to provide for his family and criticised the government for ignoring the hardships faced by local communities.

“I won’t be able to go down the shaft for now and that’s a big problem for me. As I stand here now, I don’t know what my family will eat. I have nothing to my name,” the report quoted him as saying.

The court in Pretoria on Saturday ordered an end to the police blockade of a former gold mine. Police and ambulances have been at the site, in Stilfontein, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, for several days, AFP reported.

Police called in experts on Saturday to assess the safety of the mine shafts to help decide if officers could carry out a forced evacuation, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told reporters.

But the court order effectively rules out that option.

The Pretoria court order said: “The mine shaft in Stilfontein… shall be unblocked and may not be blocked by any person or institution whether government or private.

“Any miners trapped in the mine shaft shall be permitted to exit; no non-emergency personnel may enter the mine shaft,” the judge added.

Last week, a local claimed to have been told there were around 4,000 miners underground.

Police, speaking earlier, said the figure was probably in the hundreds, but the illegal miners faced arrest if they came to the surface. On Thursday, a body was brought out of the mine.

Article written by