Rescue operations were underway at a gold mine in South Africa’s North West province where hundreds of illegal miners have been underground for months.
More than 50 bodies were brought to the surface at the mine, police confirmed on Tuesday, as operations to rescue those still trapped underground continued. More than 100 people were brought up alive.
The illegal miners, known in South Africa as “zama zamas,” or “those who take a chance,” have been down the unused mine shaft for more than two months, after police launched an operation to crack down on the illegal activity.
At first, authorities said the miners were refusing to resurface to avoid arrest, but civil society groups say they are unable to get back to the surface as they are too weak from starvation.
A court last week ordered the government to launch a rescue operation, which started Monday. But Mzukisi Jam, an activist who has been involved in rescue operations, said it was too little too late.
“Our volunteers confirmed with us yesterday that there are more than 400 live illegal miners who are still trapped, and our own volunteers confirmed — who went down there — that there are more than 100 dead bodies,” Jam said.
Police have not confirmed how many miners, living or dead, remain trapped. But Jam said the tragedy could have been prevented.
“We literally begged the government to say, 'Could you please just save them? Take them and put them to the surface?’ Then, you can further process them in terms of [the] criminality you’re saying they’ve committed.”
But the police minister and minister of mineral resources and energy, who visited the rescue site on Tuesday, defended the government’s actions.
“I’ve not changed my views that illegal mining is a criminal activity," said Gwede Mantashe, mineral resources minister. Mantashe said illegal mining was an “attack on the economy,” with the illicit precious metal trade estimated at over $3 billion in 2024.
"While there’s a criminal activity, there’s a crime scene. … It should be intensifying the fight against illegal mining,” Mantashe said.
But for Zinzi Tom, whose 26-year-old brother is still down the mine, all that matters is that he comes out alive.
“They told us that he’s not in good condition — the guy who was with him was saying that he last saw him two weeks ago. It’s a very sad moment, but one thing that I told myself is that I pray to God to give me strength," Tom said. "I have to make sure that he’s OK, and pray to God.”
Illegal miners like her brother are forced to eke out a dangerous living underground because of high unemployment, she said.
Some are South African, but many others are from neighboring countries like Lesotho and Mozambique.
Experts say that while the actual zama zamas taking the risks make little money, the criminal syndicates who run illegal operations are getting rich.
The rescue operation is expected to take 10 days.