Police considering rescue mission of illegal gold miners
AUTHORITIES in South Africa are considering whether to rescue potentially thousands of illegal miners in a disused Buffelsfontein gold mine south-east of Johannesburg.The Guardian said an attempt could be made to send a camera down the shaft to monitor the situation, quoting comments by police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe that the miners were not trapped but were hiding to avoid arrest, said the Guardian, a UK newspaper.Police stopped food, water and medicine being delivered to them about two weeks ago to try to force the miners to the surface, the Guardian said.The illegal mining operations are often controlled by criminal syndicates and have been linked to fatal shootouts and other violent crime. A month ago, the government launched Operation Vala Umgodi (plug the hole) in an attempt to crack down on the sector.“We are going to smoke them out. They will come out,” Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a government minister, said last Wednesday. “We are not sending help to criminals. Criminals are not to be helped, criminals are to be persecuted.”South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday lives should not be put at risk in a standoff between police and hundreds of illegal miners. “The Stilfontein mine is a crime scene where the offence of illegal mining is being committed. It is standard police practice everywhere to secure a crime scene and to block off escape routes that enable criminals to evade arrest,” Ramaphosa said.He urged the police to respect the miners’ rights and not put their lives at risk and said his government would work with the mining industry on the issue of illegal mining. “The police will carry out their duties and responsibilities to bring the illegal miners to the surface safely,” Ramaphosa said.More than 1,000 illegal miners have resurfaced in recent weeks but police said last week that hundreds could still be underground. Local residents and human rights groups have criticised authorities for blocking their supplies.Yasmin Omar, a lawyer for non-profit group the Society for the Protection of Our Constitution, which appealed to the Pretoria High Court, said the government line was inhumane.“Why are the ministers not asking the deeper questions, like why these mines are still opened, and why so many impoverished people are going down there?” she told the Financial Times. Omar said the court order meant “the community will be free to drop food and essentials to the people underground”.The post Police considering rescue mission of illegal gold miners appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com
Quelle: Mining.com
