SAPS denies claims of trapped illegal miners in Stilfontein

SAPS conduct Operation Vala Umgodi in Stilfontein in the North West on November 15, 2024

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The South African Police Service (SAPS) says its operation under way in Stilfontein in the North West is part of Operation Vala Umgodi.

Two weeks ago, Vala Umgodi task teams led by the SAPS and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) blocked channels used to deliver food, water and other necessities to suspected illegal miners underground in abandoned mines.

Yesterday, several individuals were successfully brought up, along with the body of one deceased miner.

Operation Vala Umgodi is government’s response to prevent, combat and put a stop to illegal mining activities.

Police Spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe says, “South Africans are quick to forget about what led to the establishment of Vala Umgodi Operation. You will recall when we had the incident of eight women that were raped in Krugersdorp, those women were raped by illegal miners. Till today, there hasn’t been a break through in this case because these illegal miners, the majority of them are illegal in the country.”

She says, “They are undocumented, so it becomes difficult for us to trace them in the very same area where we are operating and we are implementing our strategy to block food and water to go down there. We picked up a year ago, 20 bodies of illegal miners that shot at each other and killed each other.”

Fears of arrest

Mathe refuted claims of illegal miners being trapped underground and says the miners are refusing to resurface amid fears of being arrested.

She says police intelligence indicates that about 350 to 400 miners are underground.

“We have made it clear, we are not going to send soldiers and police officers down there. There are hazardous gases that are flowing underground. These people are heavily armed. ”

Mathe adds, “Since December, we have collected about 369 high caliber firearms, more than 10 000 rounds of ammunition from all these illegal mining operations – so this is not a risk we are willing to take – to play with the lives of our dedicated soldiers and men and women in blue who are out there to serve and protect the people of this country.”