Court bid for relief for Stilfontein illegal miners postponed

A police officer holds a noice issued to illegal miners to resurface from a shaft at a Stilfontein mine in the North West on 14 November 2024.

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The main application over the stand-off between illegal miners in Shaft 11 at a Stilfontein mine in the North West and police has been postponed by the High Court in Pretoria.

Civil organisation, Society for the Protection of our Constitution, approached the court for relief for the unconfirmed number of illegal miners.

On Saturday, the court granted an order directing that the mine be unblocked and that emergency personnel be permitted access to the trapped people.

Police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says the miners are not trapped but are refusing to resurface.

“An alternative shaft was made open where more than 500 illegal miners have been able to exit underground and these illegal miners are refusing to exit on that particular shaft because they are avoiding arrest. It is possible for them to exit through Margat because we have seen, in the past two weeks, more than 500 exiting. We have proof that they are not trapped because if they were trapped, they would have indicated. This is a note that was coming from underground.”

The matter of the Stilfontein illegal miners postponed:

Meanwhile, Mathe says despite miners not indicating that they are not trapped, the SAPS (South African Police Service) is continuing with their retrieval operation.

‘We are continuing, as directed by the Minister of Police, with the rescue plan. Yesterday, the rescue experts met, and they have indicated that they will be starting with a rescue mission. We know that, because of the risks as well, they will be putting a camera down there to assess first. No one can just go down there, they have to assess if it is indeed safe for emergency services to go underground. So, in a nutshell, as the SAPS, our operations continue and we stand static at all these disused and abandoned mining shafts.”