Cage to be sent down to rescue illegal miners

One of the community leaders in charge of an operation to rescue the illegal miners at a disused mine in Stilfontein, North West, says they would communicate with the zama zamas underground urging them to move away from the tunnel as mining experts prepare a cage to rescue them.

“We requested to communicate with the people underground to move away from the rattles so that the rescue team can start to prepare for a safer way to rescue them because there might be some rocks falling, so they need to move away,” community leader Thembile Botman told Sowetan on Tuesday.

He said mining experts were to start preparing from Tuesday and they were told that it would take five to six days for them to build a cage that would assist in bringing them up to the surface.

“The cage will go down. No one will go down, no police, no community member will be going down, just the cage,” he said.

Yesterday, North West MEC for community safety Wessels Morweng reaffirmed their stance that no one would be sent underground to rescue the miners.

“We are rescuing serious criminals, hardcore criminals, people that have committed serious crimes before. It is not like people don't know that we are dealing with zama zamas,” he said.

“People that have raped people before, people that have murdered people before, so we are rescuing criminals here. So, we are careful and tactical about how we are going with this issue because [this is] the plan that we have to commit to the public. We need to be mindful that we are dealing with people that can also intercept our plan and make sure that it does not materialise.”

Illegal miners have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.Human rights activist Abderrrahman Regragui in court papers

Morweng said they had a system that would assist them in verifying the number of underground people.

“The machine that is going to be sent will be a lift that is going to lift them as simple as that,” he said.

Another community leader said they will be approaching the department of health to give the illegal miners antiretrovirals (ARV).

On Monday, the illegal miners sent a letter up to the surface which stated: “Sicela ama ARVs plz, abantu bayawadinga ngapha. Siyacela.” Loosely translated: “We need ARVs, people need them here, please!”

After they were sent water using a rope, the illegal miners used the same rope to send the letter up.

Johannes Qankase, the community leader, said they were going to ensure that the men get their chronic medication.

“We have decided to approach the department of health today to ask that they assist us with ARVs that we can send them underground,” he said.

Regarding the sending of the ARVs to the men, deputy national police commissioner responsible for policing, Tebello Mosikili, said: “You will recall that we had an interim order that was issued on Saturday that requested that we need to give the necessary medication that will ensure the safety of life.

“If the ARVs is one of the requests, we have indicated that it would be done in a co-ordinated manner. ”

Meanwhile, the Pretoria high court is expected to hear an application by the Society for the Protection of Our Constitution to argue for the rights of the zama zamas.

Human rights activist Abderrrahman Regragui argued in court papers that the illegal miners had been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.

The respondents in the matter are the ministers of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, police, mineral resources and social development.

On Saturday, the Pretoria high court granted an order preventing police from blocking the shaft.

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