Government yet to receive report on Stilfontein shaft 11: MEC

North West Community Safety and Transport MEC Wessels Morweng says they are yet to receive a report about the assessment that was conducted on Friday at shaft 11 in Stilfontein.

Morweng accompanied by the Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner Patrick Asaneng briefed the media about the retrieval operation of over 1000 illegal miners believed to still be underground.

According to Morweng two phases of the operation have been concluded and the report of the assessment will determine the third phase.

The first phase was the clearing of rocks on the surface of the shaft. In the second phase a camera was sent underground to assess the condition of the shaft and to confirm the number of illegal miners that remain underground.

Morweng elaborates. “The second phase which was done on Saturday and yesterday, on Sunday, was to bring together machinery and state of the art equipment that include a camera to be lowered to assess the state of the shaft. This assessment is to gather information on the type of the methane gases down there, how harmful and confirm the number of illegal miners and their state. Once all this data has been analysed, we will know when and how to begin with the third phase. This phase is a delicate process and seeks to ensure that all illegal miners are resurfaced safely and in a humane manner.”

Deputy Commissioner Asaneng says action will be taken against those who hold others hostage underground.

“We are on site and we have also received information from some of the people who resurfaced on their own making allegations that they were held against their will underground. Therefore, it is important to understand that he who alleges that the people who are saying this are the ones that we will afford the opportunity to give us statements to indicate who the people who were holding them against their will.”

MEC Wessels Morweng briefs media on ongoing Stilfontein illegal mining saga