Two more bodies pulled out of Stilfontein mine

Two bodies were pulled out from underground in Stilfontein on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bodies retrieved to five since the start of the police Operation Vala Umgodi (loosely meaning “plug the hole”) in the North West.

An unknown number of illegal miners remain underground while groups have been resurfacing, with a total of about 1,350 having used exit points at shaft 10 and Margaret Water Company’s shaft, confirmed provincial police spokesperson Brig Sabata Mokgwabone.

“Two bodies resurfaced today [Wednesday] and two other bodies also resurfaced on Tuesday. In total, five bodies came out since the beginning of the operation last month,” Mokgwabone told TimesLIVE.

The retrieved bodies resurfaced with a note from the miners requesting assistance for those who had fallen sick and could possibly lose their lives. The note, written in Sesotho, said there were many ill people underground who could pass away at any moment.

“We request that you pull out those who have died. We ask that you pull them out today. We thank you,” the note read.

Another court application is set down for Thursday, in which organisation Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) and Lawyers for Human Rights will approach the Pretoria high court for more humanitarian relief for the stuck illegal miners.

This after the organisations were granted an interim court order on Monday which ordered several government officials, including the ministers of police and mineral resources, to allow the community and organisations to provide aid to the illegal miners.

Macua brought another application which was heard on Tuesday night, where the Pretoria high court found that the police had breached an order made on Sunday by limiting the amount of food and batteries ordered to be sent down to miners.

While Mokgwabone said he could not comment on Tuesday’s court order pending Thursday’s hearing, he said only food was being sent down the 2km-deep shaft.

“We were giving them soft foods like mageu and porridge. The court was not descriptive of the food to be sent. Even if they want tin[ned] food, we must give it to them. For now, we can confirm that food is being sent down,” he said.

TimesLIVE