Rope used to retrieve trapped zama zamas

We're helping because they live with us – rescuers

A rope that illegal miners normally use to ascend a disused 1.8km shaft has now become a contraption to retrieve some of those believed to be trapped in the belly of a North West mine. 

The rope is made of shorter pieces that have been tied together, and it is linked to a jig that helps community members pull out those still trapped underground.

The volunteers from Khuma township in Stilfontein have been leading the charge to rescue the miners as police officers watch on. The group of about 100 men is made up of zama-zamas and retrenched miners, who are familiar with the mine network underground. 

During their Operation Vala Mgodi on October 18, police closed some of the entry and exit points and blocked any delivery of food and water to the illegal miners underground. At least one decomposed body was pulled out with the rope yesterday, while another man was rescued and immediately arrested. 

Police yesterday said at least 1,170 illegal miners had voluntarily resurfaced and were arrested since October 18, while others had to be pulled using the rope.  

The group of volunteers, who have been using the rope since Tuesday, were made to sign an indemnity form by police officers which allows them to cross the police yellow line to access the the shaft.

They arrive on site around 9am and finish work at 4pm.

Kagiso Gabashane, one of the volunteers, said because of the depth of the shaft, it takes them about an hour to help one person to the surface.

Most volunteers said they decided to get involved because the illegal miners were known to them. 

Gabashane claimed one of the men underground had impregnated his sister and has been gone for three months. “I have decided to help because I want him to come out and be able to support his child. I don’t want his child to be a burden to me,” he said.

“When he left, he said he was going to hustle because his girlfriend is pregnant; and when a person from this community says they’re going to hustle, they mean they’re going underground. So he has been there for three months, and my little sister is quite stressed about this whole thing,” he said.

Less than 1km away from the mine shaft are scores of family members – mostly women – who wait to hear if their loved ones have been rescued.

Yesterday, they were seen preparing to cook lunch on fire. 

At the shaft, police officers keep a close watch as the volunteers work relentlessly for hours to help those trapped.

Another volunteer, who admitted to being an illegal miner, told Sowetan he was “lucky”  he did not go underground this time around. “The last time I was there was last year, and I stayed there for three months. I was planning to go back and had my doubts, and now I’m glad I did not go down there,” he said.

“Life down there is very hard, and it is very hot underground. We work wearing only underwear, and you constantly have to eat to get energy. So I can just imagine how those who are stuck there are feeling.”

National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said the SAPS took a decision that no police officer, soldier or government official will go down the old, abandoned mine shaft.

“There is no one who is trapped underground. This is an illegal mining operation, when you use the word ‘trapped’, it means it’s a legal mining operation. This is an illegal operation and as a caring government, we’ve gone to great lengths to allow these illegal miners to resurface. It seems they’re refusing. Some have resurfaced,” she said.

SowetanLIVE