At least one hundred miners have tragically died from suspected starvation and dehydration after being trapped for months in an abandoned gold mining site in Stilfontein, located southwest of Johannesburg.
Disturbing footage from the site, which is roughly 2 km underground, shows emaciated miners and several corpses wrapped in makeshift body bags.
These miners had been trapped since November 2024 when South African authorities launched a crackdown on illegal mining activities.
The operation, named “Close the Hole,” aimed to drive illegal miners out of mineshafts, but it inadvertently left hundreds trapped underground without sufficient food or water.
The General Industries Workers of South Africa (Giwusa), a trade union, released the heart-wrenching videos and accused the government of a “treacherous policy.”
The South African authorities, however, began their official rescue operation on Monday, following a court order to expedite efforts.
The Department of Mineral Resources initiated the rescue by lowering a cage into the mine, capable of holding six or seven miners at a time.
According to reports, 34 survivors were rescued between Monday and Tuesday, while 500 more remain trapped. The situation remains dire, with local authorities estimating up to 4,000 miners could still be underground.
Sabelo Mnguni, spokesperson for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action, shared that 18 bodies were recovered last week, half of them during a community-led operation and the rest in an official rescue mission.
While the authorities have confirmed the presence of numerous corpses, the total number remains unconfirmed.
The illegal mining operations have long been a challenge for South Africa, with the country losing approximately 70 billion rand annually to this industry.
Thousands of abandoned mines across the country exacerbate the problem, with similar issues plaguing other African nations such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
The dire situation has raised questions about the balance between tackling illegal mining and safeguarding human lives.
South African officials initially argued that the miners had entered the shafts without permission, and thus, the government would not offer assistance.
“We are not sending help to criminals,” Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni had stated in November 2024.
However, the official stance has shifted, and efforts to rescue those still trapped are underway, though the full scale of the disaster is yet to be realized.
As South Africa navigates this tragic incident, the global community remains alarmed at the risks associated with illegal mining, a crisis that continues to affect the lives of many vulnerable workers across the African continent.