By Mark Ogagan
The task team led by North West Community Safety MEC Wessels Morweng has begun the first phase of the retrieval operation to bring suspected illegal miners to the surface in a Stilfontein mine.
Illegal miners are refusing to exit the previously rehabilitated Shaft 11 at the mine.
The police have also announced plans to send antiretroviral (ARV) medication to more than 4,000 estimated illegal miners trapped underground in the Stilfontein mine.
Police officers first surrounded the entrance to the old gold shaft, which is nearly 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep, about two weeks ago, aiming to force miners to come out and then arrest them.
On Tuesday, the mine rescue team assessed the shaft to see what equipment they needed before they started the retrieval operation.
The site is expected to be cleared first in the next few days before the official retrieval operation can begin.
The community stopped retrieving the illegal miners to allow the task team, that was appointed by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, to take over.
Residents’ leader in charge of retrieving the miners, Thembile Botman has raised concerns about authorities not providing the miners with food underground.
Botman says, “The only thing that bothered us is that authorities have no plan of saying they will give them food in the meantime that they are waiting, at least for them to survive or for them to be sustained. We will just hope that after six days, we are saving human beings that are still alive not corpses.”
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