South African government seeks experts' help to bring illegal miners to the surface

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government said on Friday it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to surface illegal miners who remain under a disused gold mine.

The move signaled the government was taking a more conciliatory approach compared to earlier this week, when it said it wouldn't send help to the miners under the disused Stilfontein gold mine in the North West province. Officials have closed entrances to the mineshaft used to bring them food, water and other basic necessities as part of a government strategy to force them to return to the surface and be arrested.

Authorities had said the operation, called “Close the Hole,” would “smoke out” the miners from the mineshaft. There are no official estimates of the numbers of miners remaining in the mine, but police had cited local information and said up to 4,000 may be underground.

But a police spokesperson said on Thursday that they believed the number was exaggerated and maybe be far less than that, estimating a figure of between 350 and 400 miners.

A government delegation led by police minister Senzo Mchunu visited the site of the disused mine on Friday to engage with the community and relatives of the miners who are underground.

While Mchunu insisted that the illegal miners were committing a crime, he said the government also wanted to save their lives.

“We need a much quicker process, because it is risky and dangerous for them to remain where they are for a longer period," Mchunu said.

Mchunu said they had been advised that the mineshaft was 2,500 meters (more than 8,000 feet) deep and that the process to get people out of there was very dangerous. He added that his team was also wary of the fact that the miners may be heavily armed.

A team including mine safety experts, police, the army and various government departments was scheduled to meet Friday to put together a plan, with the mine safety experts expected to do an immediate assessment of the situation.

According to the police, 369 firearms, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 5 million rand ($275,000) in cash and 32 million rand ($1.75 million) worth of uncut diamonds have been recovered from illegal miners since the government's operation began.

More than 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in North West province, with many reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic necessities.

Some family members of the illegal miners have pleaded with the government to deploy resources and expertise to get them out, with community members retrieving some miners themselves this week.

A decomposed body believed to be of one of the miners was brought to the surface on Thursday, and police said they were still trying to determine the person's identity and cause of death.