A total of 106 illegal miners have been retrieved alive from the Stilfontein shaft in the North West and arrested on the surface.
However, police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said that the death toll has risen to 51 with the nationalities of those who have died in the bowels of the earth not specified.
Mathe listed the different nations where the illegal miners who were retrieved alive as follows:
Mozambicans: 67
Lesotho: 26
Zimbabweans: 11
South Africans: two
"Operations will resume on Wednesday, January 15, 2025," said Mathe.
The rescue effort is expected to go on for 10 to 16 days.
"Once they are extracted, the illegal miners are inspected for any illicit items such as gold nuggets and illegal firearms and thereafter assessed by paramedics on site," a joint statement from the Department of Police and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy read.
The statement said that individuals who need more medical attention were transferred to a health centre, while those assessed to be in good health condition are promptly arrested.
From August 2024 until Sunday, January 12, the following was recorded:
- Prior to the start of the extraction operation, over 1,576 illegal miners had been apprehended. Those arrested belong to the following nationalities:
- 997 of the detained are Mozambicans, 427 are Zimbabweans, 118 are Lesotho citizens, 21 are South Africans, one is from Malawi, and another is from Congo.
- 1540 illegal miners remain in police custody.
- 121 illegal miners have already been deported, including 80 Mozambicans, 30 Basotho nationals, 10 Zimbabweans, and one Malawian.
- 46 have already been found guilty of illegal mining, trespassing and contravening the immigration act.
The court handed down a sentence of R12,000 or six months wholly suspended imprisonment sentence for five years on condition that they are not found guilty of similar crimes.
Confiscated materials since the start of operations in Stilfontein (December 2023) include over 640 kg of gold-bearing material, 6.2 kg of refined gold, explosives, firearms, and cash amounting to R52.49 million seized.
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