Police refuse demands from illegal Stilfontein miners

This follows last week’s incident where over 1,000 miners surfaced after reportedly running out of food and water.

They were immediately arrested.

Authorities have since confirmed that more individuals remain underground.

Community members have since volunteered to help retrieve those who need help coming out.

Despite calls for law enforcement to provide aid below ground, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said they would “not be pressured into taking action”.

"I have indicated numerous times that as a responsible government, we are not going to allow our men and women in blue to go down there.

We have consulted with the mining company and the Department of Mineral Resources, and they are telling us that it is unsafe. It is inhumane to allow people to go down there.

“Firstly, there are hazardous gases that are flowing there, there is a high risk of loss of life, and according to our intelligence, these illegal miners may be heavily armed.

When you look at the stats since December, we have seized more than 369 high-calibre firearms from these illegal operations.

“We have also seized more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition and R32m worth of uncut diamonds," says Mathe.

Mathe insisted that the miners were not trapped but chose to stay underground.

"No one is trapped underground; this is an illegal operation. When you use the word ‘trapped’, it means it is a legal operation, and this is illegal.

“As a caring government, we have gone to great lengths to allow these illegal miners to resurface, and it seems as though they are refusing.

“We do have our intelligence that is also doing spade work on the ground," added Mathe.

"It’s a way for these illegal miners to blackmail the government, for the government to think the situation is dire so that we continue to send food and water so they can continue to operate.

“We are told by intelligence that they are refusing to resurface. No one is trapped."

While it has been widely reported that 4,500 are still underground, Mathe believes the number is far-fetched.

"We are not disputing that there are still a lot of illegal miners down there, but the number of 4,000 or 5,000 is very far-fetched.

“We do know the information that we are told is that there are hundreds, so we are making a call to these illegal miners to really adhere to the call by the men and women in blue," said Mathe.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and representatives of the defence ministry are expected to visit the area on Friday.

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