South Africa: at least 87 miners dead after court-ordered rescue

After a lengthy stand-off between police and illegal miners trapped in one of the deepest abandoned gold mines in South Africa, the death toll has risen to around 87.

Africa News and agencies have reported on January 16th that South African authorities are facing growing anger internationally, as well as a potential investigation over their initial refusal to rescue the trapped miners, instead smoking them out by cutting off food supplies and blocking exits.

Spokesperson for the South African police, Athlenda Mathe said  78 bodies were recovered in a court-ordered rescue operation.  246 survivors have also been rescued from deep underground since the beginning of the rescue efforts on January 13^th.

Until this week, the rescue efforts were left to community groups who launched their own rescue attempts after authorities stated they would not be helping the miners as they were “criminals.”

The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although official causes of death have yet been released.

Both Police and the mine owners have also been accused of removing ropes and taking apart the pulley system the miners used to access the mine.

Locals argue the unfolding disaster underground was obvious weeks ago, as community members pulled decomposing bodies out of the mine, some with notes attached to them begging for food to be sent down.

“If the police had acted earlier, we would not be in this situation, with bodies piling up,” said, local community leader, Johannes Qankase. “It is a disgrace for a constitutional democracy like ours. Somebody needs to account for what has happened here.”

At the same time, South Africa’s second largest political party, who form part of a government coalition, have called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to launch an investigation to establish  “why the situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand.”

“The scale of the disaster underground at Buffelsfontein is rapidly proving to be as bad as feared,” the Democratic Alliance party stated.

Police believe that nearly 2,000 miners were working illegally in the mine since August last year. Many of the miners have resurfaced unaided over the last few months. All of the resurfaced survivors have been arrested, even as some have emerged badly emaciated and hardly able to walk to waiting ambulances.

At least 13 children have been reported to have come out of the mine before the official rescue operation began.

Police announced on January 16^th that they have ended that operation after three days, stating that they believed no one else is underground. As well as this, a camera was sent down in a cage that was used to pull out survivors and bodies to ensure no one was left behind.

Police have maintained that the miners were always able to come out through several shafts but hid out of fear of being arrested. This has been disputed by groups representing the miners, who argue hundreds were trapped and left starving in dark and damp conditions.

This comes after a larger nationwide clampdown on illegal mining called Vala Umgodi, translating to “Close the Hole.” Illegal mining is a problem for authorities as large groups go into dangerous mines that have been shut down in order to get any leftover materials.

The illegal miners are known as “zama zamas” (translating to “hustlers” or “chancers” in Zulu)  are usually armed and part of criminal gangs. They are often undocumented foreign nationals with authorities stating that a large number of those who came out of the Buffelsfontein mine were in South Africa illegally.

The government has defended their harsh approach arguing: “By providing food, water and necessities to these illegal miners, it would be the police entertaining and allowing criminality to thrive.”

However, the South African Federation of Trade Unions has questioned the government, asking how it in good conscience could “allow anyone — be they citizens or undocumented immigrants, to starve to death in the depths of the earth.”

Africa News and agencies