STILFONTEIN (South Africa), Nov 18 9NNN-AGENCIES) — South African police say they will continue to arrest any illegal miners who emerge from a disused gold mine where hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are in hiding.
This follows a court order which said the mine-shaft in Stilfontein, around 145km south-west of Johannesburg, should not be blocked.
Emergency services have been at the site, for several days. Police have been preventing food and water entering the mine to, as one government minister put it, “smoke them out”.
The miners – who have been underground for a month – have so far refused to exit the mine over fears of being arrested. Among them are undocumented migrants who also fear deportation.
On Saturday, a court in Pretoria ordered that the mine “shall be unblocked and may not be blocked by any person or institution whether government or private”.
It also said that any person in the mine should be allowed to exit, and that “no non-emergency personnel may enter the mine shaft”.
Three of the miners surfaced on Saturday, one of whom was taken to hospital for medical treatment. The two others were arrested.
Police have called in experts to assess the integrity of the mine shafts, to inform a decision as to whether they would conduct a forced evacuation.
Yasmin Omar, an attorney who helped bring the court case, told state broadcaster SABC that the ruling was a temporary order “that will at least allow us to get emergency relief to the people [who] need it”.
She said a full hearing on the matter would take place on Tuesday.
“These people underground are dying,” Omar said, adding that the ruling means officials “must do all that is reasonable to give medical care to the people who are underground”.
In a statement, the South African Police Service (SAPS) welcomed the court order, which it stressed did not prevent officers from making arrests.
It said: “All those who resurface will continue to be assessed by emergency medical personnel on site, as has been the case.
“Those that are in a good health will be processed and detained. Those that require further medical care will be taken to hospital under police guard.”
More than 1,000 miners have already emerged and been arrested.
The SAPS has previously said that among those to resurface from the Stilfontein mine were individuals from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The force has launched a nationwide operation aimed at combatting illegal mining and related criminal activities. — NNN-AGENCIES
