Armed or not, illegal miners will come out — Mchunu

Court dismisses case for government disaster relief

“Whether they are armed or not, they [illegal miners] will come out. Stilfontein is not a hide out,” police minister Senzo Mchunu said on Monday.

Mchunu was speaking at a media briefing where he presented the latest crime statistics.

Mchunu's comments came on the day that the Pretoria high court dismissed an application by the Society for the Protection of our Constitution which sought to compel the government to provide emergency disaster relief to illegal miners who are underground at the Stilfontein mine in North West.

“We don't want to be long in Stilfontein, we want to be as short as possible. That's why we're going there to make assessments and intensify our activities to get them out. Whether they are armed or not armed, we want to get everybody out from Stilfontein. But it will depend on the level of success as we move on,” said Mchunu.

By Monday morning, 24 illegal miners had already resurfaced.

Speaking at the Stilfontein police station later in the day, North West deputy police commissioner Maj-Gen Patrick Asaneng told a media briefing that some of those illegal miners looked “well and strong”.

He said the majority of those who have since resurfaced were from Margaret shaft and were undocumented foreign nationals.

“The reason this is of importance to government is to dispel the narrative that says that these people have been held against their will. Margaret shaft ... right from the onset was made available and they could have gone there,” he said.

Since Operation Vala Umgodi began, 1,259 illegal miners have resurfaced in Stillfontein and only 10 are South African.

Asaneng said 871 are from Mozambique, 343 are Zimbabwean, 33 are Lesotho nationals and one is Malawian. All of them were undocumented, he said.

“They [the zama zamas] are people who have violated and transgressed the South African Immigration Act which says for you to be in South Africa you must enter through a gazetted port of entry, you must have valid documentation and for you to remain here you must have a legitimate reason to be here. So let us dispel this notion that these people are being persecuted,” he said.

North West MEC for community safety Wessels Morweng said: “All the crime that is happening in this area, we are attributing it to the zama zamas.

“I've made this clear a long time ago that the murders, rape that take place in this area, it is these people. We have evidence to that effect and practical case studies of 15 people who were shot at a tavern, so it shows that at the pinnacle of the problem is these zama zamas. The police are on the ground doing their work, that is why the crime is reducing.” 

Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said the illegal miners who have resurfaced “have confirmed what police have always been saying. That first, there is no-one trapped, and that there are 10 heavily armed Basotho nationals who are guarding them and making them dig for gold.”

“They claim the food and water that was taken down was all confiscated by these Basotho guards and none of them were allowed to eat or drink. They are instead forced to work for the food and water,” she said.

According to Morweng, there was a note on Friday sent to the surface saying there were 500 illegal miners underground and 300 of them were unwell.

“They are also requesting more food. Some of the people who resurfaced have indicated that they had been held against their will by other highly armed illegal miners underground,” Morweng said.

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