The South African government has refused to help an estimated 4,000 miners illegally occupying an underground mine in Stilfontein, attempting to “smoke them out” and crack down on illegal mining.  

When asked whether the government would be sending any help to the miners still remaining underground, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said, “We are not going to send help to criminals, we are going to smoke them out.” Since then, a number of government officials have visited the site. The South African Police Service continues to hold that illegal mining is a “threat to the nation’s security, economy and environment.” 

The crackdown began on November 14, and the police force has since then blocked vital supplies such as food and water from going into the mine. The operation in Stilfontein is part of the larger national Operation Vala Umgodi to “ensure that illegal miners who are still underground return to the surface safely.” To date, more than 1,000 miners have surfaced and been arrested, but many more remain underground. 

Other parties have expressed their concern over these measures. According to official sources, at least one decomposed body has been recovered from the mine, and there may be more. Critics also claim the miners could be in critical conditions as they are cut off from vital supplies. Member of Parliament Emma Louise Powell said that “vengeance must never undermine our moral and legal obligations” and urged “disaster response and law enforcement teams [to] immediately intervene.” 

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has expressed concern over the possibility that this “malicious” and “vindictive” operation “may end in a tragedy.” SAFTU recounted the story of why these vulnerable workers, colloquially referred to as “Zama Zamas,” resort to working in such dangerous conditions. SAFTU urged the government to take alternative measures to address the root problems in the mining industry rather than strand miners forced to work in such extreme conditions without vital supplies like food and water. By Ishrat Chahal, Jurist News