By Mark Ogagan
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa is facing calls to order an inquiry into a police operation that was meant to combat illegal mining but ended up leaving 87 miners to die underground as authorities attempted to force them to surrender during a month long standoff.
The tragedy at the abandoned gold mine near the town of Stilfontein began to unfold in August, when police cut off food supplies for a period of time to the miners working illegally in the mine’s tunnels.
The tactic was apparently meant to force them out but instead caused dozens to die of starvation or dehydration, according to groups representing the miners.
On Monday, as the formal rescue operation commenced to retrieve miners from an abandoned mineshaft in Stilfontein, two men donned some protective gear and stepped into a metal cage that was to be lowered deep underground. No police or other rescue workers would go down as the risk was deemed too high. So the responsibility was taken up by Mandla Charles and Mzwandile Mkwayi, both from Khuma, a nearby township, and part of the community leadership group fighting since October 2024 to rescue the miners. They were not prepared for what they were to witness.
“It has been a hard couple of months for everyone here as a community of Khuma,” said Charles. “From the beginning of the situation family members of the miners would ask us as community leaders, ‘Is my father alive, is my son alive?’ and we didn’t have the answers. So now when we got the opportunity to go down and assist we did it because this issue is close to our hearts.”
As the cage reached a depth of 1,280 meters, Charles and Mkwayi were confronted with scenes that may haunt them forever. Hundreds of emaciated miners, some near death, lay together with dozens of dead bodies.
“The smell of death was everywhere,” said Charles. “When those guys saw us arrive they thought we were the messiah; they couldn’t believe their eyes. I think many thought they were going to die down there and had given up hope.”
“We said to each other that we need to show some strength and courage even though the situation down there is very difficult,” said Mkwayi. “We agreed we need to be strong for the sake of the miners down there who needed our help.”
The most vulnerable were taken up first so that they could receive urgent medical attention. Charles and Mkwayi stayed down the shaft to coordinate and assist, and returned to the surface only at the end of each day.
After three days, they had together with the team on the surface rescued 246 miners and retrieved 78 bodies.
Mines Rescue Services CEO Mannas Fourie said that late on Wednesday the community volunteers indicated that there was no one else alive down in the shaft.
On Thursday, an empty cage was loaded with water and some audio and visual equipment and sent down to search for signs of life.
“We were operating the rescue at a depth of 1,280 meters, but today we sent the cage over 2,000 meters deep until we hit water. The camera and sound equipment have not picked up anything, so for now, we are calling off the rescue operation,” said Fourie.
Acting North West Commissioner, Major General Patrick Asaneng addressed the media outside the shaft.
“Whether anybody can be held accountable for the deaths, it is for the courts to determine,” he said.
Police operations will continue and a police presence maintained in the area. Discussions will be held with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to find a solution for abandoned mines.
“What I have seen down there, I will never forget it,” says Mkwayi.
“I can go to trauma counseling or whatever; I will never forget it.”
One of the miners that Mkwayi helped rescue handed him his mining helmet as a gesture of gratitude when they got to the surface.
“He told me he doesn’t have anything but that I should take his helmet as a gift. I will keep that helmet forever and hang it in my house and when I am old I will show it to my grandchildren and I will tell them the story of what happened here at this mine,” said Mkwayi.
Discussion about this post