Police said Tiger is considered a dangerous fugitive from justice. Members of the public are advised to provide any information pertaining to his whereabouts to the Stilfontein police station.
At the weekend, police dismissed allegations about their operation in Stilfontein and criticised the sharing of miners' private information.
Mathe said when they were alerted to an allegation that police blasted shaft 10, they instructed an explosives team to inspect the area. No blasting or bombing took place.
Mathe said police have since the start of the surfacing of illegal miners, shared a list of those who have surfaced and been retrieved with two community leaders.
“This was done to ensure transparency with communities but to also ensure community members assist the police in finding the next-of-kin of those involved.
“The SAPS has since learnt with dismay that these lists which include names, nationalities and birth dates have been widely shared on social media platforms,” she said.
It also emerged at the weekend that one of the volunteers who helped rescue illegal miners from underground is a convicted wife killer.
Police and the prisons department said he had been cautioned for parole violations.
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Mzwandile Mkwayi infringed his parole conditions by leaving his designated jurisdiction without earlier notification or approval from his monitoring officials. He also gave interviews to media outlets without securing authorisation, another breach of his parole conditions.
“He was taken to the Klerksdorp community corrections office for administrative purposes.”
Mkwayi, convicted of murder in 2013, has been on parole since April 2021. His sentence is to expire in September 2028.
“The department has issued a formal warning to Mkwayi for these violations. He remains on parole and will continue to be monitored in accordance with the conditions of his parole placement until the sentence expiry date,” Nxumalo said.
TimesLIVE
LISTEN | Manhunt for Stilfontein underground 'kingpin' Tiger who escaped from police custody
Image: Supplied/SAPS
North West acting police commissioner Maj-Gen Patrick Asaneng has pledged that heads will roll after an alleged Stilfontein illegal mining kingpin escaped from police custody.
Asaneng ordered maximum resources be mobilised to find the suspect who was one of those who surfaced from shaft 11 last week.
“Extensive investigations and tracing operations are under way to find those officials who aided his escape between shaft 11 and the Stilfontein police holding cells,” said police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe.
“The alleged kingpin and ringleader is a Lesotho national. According to records, his name is James Neo Tshoaeli, but is commonly known as 'Tiger.'”
She said according to records, Tiger was never booked in at any police stations where illegal miners are being kept.
“Tiger has also not been admitted to a hospital for medical care.”
He is fingered in several statements obtained by police as one of the ringleaders who controlled operations underground.
“He is also being accused by some illegal miners who surfaced of allegedly being responsible for some deaths, assault and torture alleged to have taken place.
“He is also alleged to have hoarded and kept food away from other illegal miners,” she said.
Asaneng expressed disappointment at what he called an embarrassment to the Vala Umgodi operation that has been running since December 2023. He vowed to ensure those responsible for the escape were brought to book and Tiger found.
Image: Supplied/SAPS
Police said Tiger is considered a dangerous fugitive from justice. Members of the public are advised to provide any information pertaining to his whereabouts to the Stilfontein police station.
At the weekend, police dismissed allegations about their operation in Stilfontein and criticised the sharing of miners' private information.
Mathe said when they were alerted to an allegation that police blasted shaft 10, they instructed an explosives team to inspect the area. No blasting or bombing took place.
Mathe said police have since the start of the surfacing of illegal miners, shared a list of those who have surfaced and been retrieved with two community leaders.
“This was done to ensure transparency with communities but to also ensure community members assist the police in finding the next-of-kin of those involved.
“The SAPS has since learnt with dismay that these lists which include names, nationalities and birth dates have been widely shared on social media platforms,” she said.
It also emerged at the weekend that one of the volunteers who helped rescue illegal miners from underground is a convicted wife killer.
Police and the prisons department said he had been cautioned for parole violations.
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Mzwandile Mkwayi infringed his parole conditions by leaving his designated jurisdiction without earlier notification or approval from his monitoring officials. He also gave interviews to media outlets without securing authorisation, another breach of his parole conditions.
“He was taken to the Klerksdorp community corrections office for administrative purposes.”
Mkwayi, convicted of murder in 2013, has been on parole since April 2021. His sentence is to expire in September 2028.
“The department has issued a formal warning to Mkwayi for these violations. He remains on parole and will continue to be monitored in accordance with the conditions of his parole placement until the sentence expiry date,” Nxumalo said.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
Q&A with public interest lawyer Richard Spoor on Stilfontein disaster
'They said they would smoke them out; they did that': Stilfontein community leader
'I have no sympathy for criminality': Mashaba on Stilfontein deaths
A place where illegal mining provides a rare glimmer of hope
How death stalked Stilfontein’s dark, stinking depths
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