Plan in motion to rescue miners at abandoned shaft in Stilfontein

The plan comes after local government roped in mining experts and community leaders to find a solution to an impasse between law enforcement and zama zamas underground at the old Buffelsfontein mine.

JOHANNESBURG - A plan has been set in motion to rescue hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal miners at an abandoned shaft in Stilfontein in the North West.

Police cut off food and water supplies to the illegal miners when"Operation Vala Umgodi" was intensified earlier in November to clamp down on illegal mining in the province and other parts of the country. While volunteers from the nearby community have been leading rescue efforts to bring the hungry and dehydrated miners back to the surface, a technical team has now been appointed to take over.

MEC for Community Safety in the North West, Wessels Morweng, gave an update on the matter on Monday afternoon. "The plan is practical. Of course, that indicates how we are going to go about this rescue process. Of course, we cannot take away the fact that they are going to be challenges, given the depth of the mine. They did indicate that the mine is deeper than the older mines they have operated, meaning that will be dealing with a different animal but what gives us comfort, as government, is that they have committed that they will assist us to rescue the people.

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