‘Bodies without heads’ — Stilfontein volunteer on what he saw underground during rescue operations

17 January 2025 - 07:46
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An illegal miner is carried by medical officials after being rescued at the mine shaft in Stilfontein.
An illegal miner is carried by medical officials after being rescued at the mine shaft in Stilfontein.
Image: Ihsaan Haffejee

A harrowing account from Mandla Charles, one of the volunteers involved in the rescue operation at the Stilfontein mine, has shed light on the gruesome conditions faced by the illegal miners.

“We saw bodies of people in pieces. Some were not complete. There were body parts such as arms. We saw heads lying there without their bodies,” Charles said in an interview with eNCA.

The rescue effort, which began on Monday, came after a high court ruling ordering government to extract the illegal miners from the mine.

As of Thursday, 78 bodies had been retrieved and 246 zama zamas were rescued. However, the true extent of the tragedy continues to unfold.

According to Charles, the situation underground is "really bad", and what they witnessed will have a lasting impact on their mental health.

"The things we saw down there, even after days, months or even years, would impact someone's mental health," he said.

The retrieval of body parts scattered throughout the mine poses a significant challenge due to the vast distance and time required.

Charles expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of counselling after the trauma they experienced.

"Counselling doesn't help. We are traditional people. We need to cleanse. Counselling is a Western tradition. Culturally we need to cleanse our bodies for the dead people we were touching down there," he said.

The Stilfontein mine tragedy has raised concerns about the treatment of illegal miners and the desperate measures they resort to for survival.

A submission to the Constitutional Court by human rights group Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) alleged some miners had resorted to cannibalism by feeding on the corpses of their deceased colleagues.

As the rescue operation continues, the full extent of the tragedy is yet to be revealed.

Police reported 1,907 illegal miners have surfaced since the launch of Operation Vala Umgodi in August last year, with 87 bodies recovered, only two of which have been identified.

TimesLIVE


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