JOHANNESBURG — The government of South Africa has announced that it will not offer assistance to approximately 4,000 illegal miners trapped inside a decommissioned mine located in North West province. This decision is aligned with their firm stance against unauthorized mining operations.

The miners, currently situated in a shaft in Stilfontein, are reportedly facing severe shortages of food, water, and other essential supplies after law enforcement officials sealed off the entrances that were being utilized to deliver provisions to them underground. This strategy is part of the police operation named Vala Umgodi, or “Close the Hole,” aimed at cutting off the miners’ supplies to encourage their emergence from the depths and ensure their arrest.

In recent weeks, over 1,000 miners have ascended from various sites in North West province, many emerging in weakened states due to prolonged deprivation of basic necessities. Just this week, around 20 miners have been seen coming out from the Stilfontein mineshaft while police maintain vigilance in the surrounding areas to apprehend anyone that surfaces.

During a news briefing, Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni emphasized that the government has no intentions of aiding those engaged in illegal mining activities, characterizing them as participants in criminal behavior. “We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ntshavheni stated.

Illegal mining continues to be a prevalent issue in South Africa’s historical gold-mining regions, where individuals frequently infiltrate abandoned shafts in search of any remaining mineral deposits.

Many of these illegal miners hail from neighboring countries, and authorities indicate that larger syndicates are often involved, which oversee these illicit operations. The presence of these miners in closed shafts has also sparked tensions with local communities, who report various crimes associated with illegal mining, including robbery and sexual assault.

Furthermore, these illicit mining groups are often armed, and conflicts between rival factions occasionally lead to deadly clashes.