Why did 87 miners die trapped in South Africa as the police tried to force them to surrender?

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – South Africa's president is facing calls for an investigation into a police crackdown on illegal mining that left 87 miners dead underground as authorities tried to force them to surrender months ago. stop.

The tragedy at the disused gold mine near the town of Stilfontein first came to light in August, when police cut off food for a period of time from miners working illegally in the mine shafts.

The tactic was intended to force them out but instead killed dozens from starvation or dehydration, according to groups representing the miners.

A court-ordered rescue operation was launched on Monday and more than 240 survivors were pulled out this week in small groups from metal cages, some of them in dire straits after more than five months underground. All the survivors were arrested, the police said.

Here's how events unfolded:

Function 'Close the Hole'

South African authorities have struggled for years to prevent groups of miners from entering some of the gold-rich country's 6,000 abandoned or closed mines to search for remaining deposits. According to officials, South Africa lost more than $3 billion in gold to illegal trade last year.

The police started an operation – called “Close the Pit” – in late 2023 to arrest illegal miners by surrounding several mines and cutting off supplies sent by other gang members to the surface, so the miners could come. they went out alone and were arrested.

The Buffelsfontein gold mine, where the disaster took place, became a police base in August but it was not until November that the miners' plight attracted the attention of rights groups. Activists warned that hundreds of miners were trapped 2.5 kilometers underground and were in dire need of food, water and more.

The Cabinet minister laughed when asked if the authorities would send the goods.

“We do not send help to criminals,” said Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, adding that “criminals should not be helped. Criminals must be prosecuted.”

Hunger as a weapon

Trade unions and rights groups say the authorities are using hunger as a weapon in Buffelsfontein. The team representing the miners said that not only did the police cut off food for a while, they and the mine owners also dismantled the rope and pulley system that was used to enter the mine and unload the goods.

The police denied that they were responsible for the death of these miners and emphasized that the miners were not trapped but managed to escape through many holes in the mine.

There are more than 1,500, police said, but some remain in fear of being arrested.

But rights groups say hundreds of miners were trapped inside the mine too far from the shafts to escape or too weak to escape.

Activists say the authorities are to blame for the long delay in launching the rescue operation, which began on Monday after a court ordered the government to rescue the miners.

Who are the miners?

The miners, known as “zama zamas” – “hustlers” or “chancers” in the Zulu language – are often armed and part of criminal gangs, the government said.

They are often undocumented foreigners and authorities say most of those coming out of the Buffelsfontein mine are from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, and were in South Africa illegally.

Police said they seized gold, explosives, firearms and more than $2 million in cash from the miners and have defended their hard-fought approach.

A request for the president to issue an order for an investigation

The second largest political party in South Africa, which is part of the government coalition, has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to order an investigation into what happened at the Buffelsfontein mine.

The investigation should also clarify whether the police are “prepared to use retribution and punishment as acceptable means of combating illegal mining,” the Democratic Alliance party said.

Some have questioned whether the unusually harsh action of the authorities was due to the fact that most of the miners in Buffelsfontein were not South Africans, but undocumented immigrants.

Ramaphosa did not comment on the tragedy.

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