JOHANNESBURG (AP)– South Africa’s federal government states it will not assist a team of prohibited miners inside a shut mine in the nation’s North West district that have actually been rejected accessibility to standard materials as component of a main method versus illegal mining.
The miners in the mineshaft in Stilfontein are thought to be struggling with an absence of food, water and various other standard requirements after cops blocked the entryways made use of to move their materials underground.
It becomes part of the cops’s Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole, procedure, that includes removing miners’ materials to require them to go back to the surface area and be apprehended.
Police had earlier suggested that details obtained from those that just recently aided bring 3 miners to the surface area suggested that as much as 4,000 miners might be below ground.
However, on Thursday mid-day, cops representative Athlenda Mathe claimed that they thought the number was overstated and possibly be much much less than that, approximating a number of in between 350 and 400 miners.
“We feel that the numbers are being exaggerated. We have deployed maximum resources to this case including our intelligence operative who are on the ground who have engaged with all stakeholders.
“We have managed to estimate the numbers to be between 350 and 400,” Mathe said.
South African ministers of police and defense are on Thursday expected to visit the mine to engage with officials and community members on the ground, Mathe said.
Stilfontein is one of the mines that were targeted by police as they intensified their operation in the North West province from Oct. 18.
It’s unclear how long the current group of miners have been underground as the groups are reported to often stay underground for months, depending on supplies of basic necessities like food and water from the outside.
“We have taken a decision that no police officer, no soldier or government official will go down to an abandoned mine. There is a high risk of loss of life,” she said.
Mathe said they had information that the miners may be heavily armed, adding that since embarking on operations against illegal miners since last December, police had seized more than 369 high caliber firearms, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 5 million rand ($275,000) in cash and 32 million rand ($1.75 million) worth of uncut diamonds.
In the past few weeks, more than 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in North West province, with many reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.
Police continue Thursday to secure locations around the mine to capture all those showing up from underground.
