Mchunu to brief media on completion of Stilfontein operations

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is expected to brief the media in Pretoria today on the completion of operations at a disused mine at Stilfontein in the North West.

The court-ordered government-led operations have resulted in bringing 246 illegal miners to the surface.

Seventy-eight bodies were also retrieved from underground.

Some of the illegal miners were emaciated and disoriented.

The survivors who are mostly from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, have been arrested.

Charges against them include Contravening the Immigration Act, illegal mining and trespassing.

Mchunu will be joined by his deputy, Polly Boshielo, and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola

Police have described the process of identifying the bodies of illegal miners as a mammoth task.

National Police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says, “Only two have been identified because the challenge is that the majority of them are undocumented. Some of them are decomposed bodies that came up as bones so that DNA process to try and identify who these individuals are is underway.”

Mathe says, “For now we can confirm that of those that have been arrested a total of nine illegal miners have been hospitalised because they required further medical treatment. They are under police guard in hospital.”-Additional reporting by Zebilon Maine.

VIDEO | Police to verify the presence of illegal miners underground at Stilfontein Mine: