A task team led by North West Community Safety MEC Wessels Morweng has initiated the first phase of an operation to bring suspected illegal miners to the surface from a Stilfontein mine. The miners, however, are refusing to leave the previously rehabilitated Shaft 11, complicating efforts to retrieve them.

On Wednesday, a mine rescue team assessed the site to determine the necessary equipment for the operation. The site is expected to be cleared over the next few days before the official retrieval process begins.

The community had been actively attempting to retrieve the miners but stopped when the task team, appointed by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, took over. The exact number of miners still underground remains unknown.

Thembile Botman, a local leader involved in the retrieval efforts, expressed concern about the lack of food provisions for the miners while they remain underground. “The only thing that bothered us is that authorities have no plan to provide them with food while they wait, at least to sustain them. We just hope that, after six days, we are saving human beings that are still alive, not corpses,” said Botman.