Thuso Khumalo
Johannesburg, South Africa - Hundreds of illegal miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein, in South Africa’s North West province, will spend Christmas day underground. The government has yet to begin a promised rescue mission. Families of those underground are angry and disappointed.
For the first time, Thandeka Zinzi Tom will spend Christmas day without her brother Ayanda Tom. He is one of the hundreds of illegal miners who have spent months in an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein.
When the government announced over a month ago that a team of mine rescue experts had been assembled to rescue the miners, Thandeka says she was hopeful the return of her brother alive would be the best Christmas gift.
She is unhappy with the government’s position that her brother and others with him are criminals violating laws against illegal mining.
“Sometimes hunger can make you brave. For me to risk my life to go down there, I think I have gone through some serious thought to say let me risk it for my family to make ends meet.”
The government rescue team not yet begun the actual rescue mission. Two weeks ago Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola told the media that the government will need up to $54,000 dollars a day to carry out the rescue and the government is still working on securing the funds.
Linah Minyizeya is distraught. Her two sons Tinashe and Tawanda will not be joining her at the Christmas dinner table this year. They have been underground since February.
“It’s just like I’m crazy! I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m talking about! God, it’s too much! It’s too much! What I want, I want my children.”
Johannes Qankase, a community leader in Stilfontein, says the government gave them false hope that it would rescue the miners.
“As concerned community leaders, it's very painful. It’s very devastating because you must understand we had hope when the government said it was going to enhance or intervene in resurfacing the people underground, but to date nothing has happened.”
Mametlwe Sebei, a human rights lawyer, wants the government to stop telling people that the miners are free to resurface. He says those miners who have voluntarily resurfaced have explained why many are not coming out.
“I see that the government is engaged in whole propaganda of falsification of the actual situation here. They tell people that well people can come out when they want, but the reality is that those tunnels are flooded. Many of these people are extremely weak, emaciated, dehydrated and being extremely weakened by lack of medication. The idea that these people can just easily crawl to that outlet is not realistic.
Initially, many of the men who were working in the mine illegally refused to come out, because they did not want to be arrested.
Wessels Morweng, North West member of the Executive Council responsible for safety, defended the police for refusing to go down into the mine to force out the miners. He says cameras sent down the shaft revealed that there are heavily armed people underground. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the illegal miners will be dealt with humanely but said that upon resurfacing they will be arrested and prosecuted because they had committed a criminal act.
South Africa bans mining in pits that mining companies have abandoned because they had become unprofitable. The government says illegal mining is dangerous, and it often is run by gangs. In addition, the government loses millions of rand a year in revenue from ore sold illegally.