Authorities cut off food and water supplies for months, forcing miners to the surface for arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 78 illegal miners have been recovered dead from a South African gold mine, where police imposed a harsh siege by blocking food and water deliveries for months. The operation has been condemned by trade unions as a \u201chorrific\u201d state crackdown on desperate individuals attempting to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, 78 bodies and 166 survivors\u2014some severely malnourished and disoriented\u2014have been extracted during a court-mandated rescue mission that began Monday. Hundreds more miners remain trapped 1.5 miles underground at the Stilfontein mine, located southwest of Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since August, authorities had cut off food and water to the miners, known as \u201czama zamas.\u201d It wasn\u2019t until December that a court ruled volunteers could provide essential aid to those trapped below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur mandate is to fight crime, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve been doing,\u201d said Athlenda Mathe, national spokesperson for the South African police, speaking on-site. \u201cProviding food, water, and supplies would have allowed criminality to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The death toll from this operation makes it one of the deadliest crackdowns on illegal miners in recent South African history. As the body count rises, the police and government face increasing criticism. Officials argue that the siege was part of a much-needed action against illegal mining, but trade unions have condemned the response as \u201cstate wilful negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese miners, many of whom are undocumented and desperate workers from Mozambique and other Southern African countries, were abandoned to die in one of the most horrific displays of state negligence we\u2019ve seen,\u201d the South African Federation of Trade Unions said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in the ruling coalition, called for an independent inquiry on Wednesday, stating the situation at the mine had \u201cspiraled out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All 166 survivors have been arrested and charged with various offenses, including illegal immigration, trespassing, and illegal mining. Police confirmed that none of the survivors were hospitalized, and all were taken into police custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re able to walk when you come out, they take you straight to jail,\u201d said Mzukisi Jam, a civil rights activist, who has been at the site throughout the rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities cut off food and water supplies for months, forcing miners to the surface for arrests. A total of 78 illegal miners have been recovered dead from a South African gold mine, where police imposed a harsh siege by blocking food and water deliveries for months. The operation has been condemned by trade unions as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gold-news","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n