Vavi lambasts govt’s handling of the Stilfontein illegal miners’ saga

The rescue of Stilfontein illegal miners is continuing.

2 minutes

SAFTU General-Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi has described the handling of the Stilfontein illegal miners’ matter as a monumental disaster.

To date, 87 bodies of illegal miners have been retrieved and over 1 900 illegal miners have been brought to the surface.

Vavi says if government acted faster, they could have saved more lives.

“We went to Stilfontein at the time where most illegal mineworkers were now being forced to leave, because they have been starved of food and water as a result of that operation. More than 80 people have died. We think that if government had moved with the necessary speed in the shaft where people were unable to come out on their own, it would have saved all of the people who had died.”

Vavi has blamed government for the influx in illegal mining in the country. He says if government had better border control, such situations would not be so dire.

“We got to know why government is allowing a situation where it’s unable to manage its own migration laws. When we are talking about a flux, an influx of a Zimbabwean and Mozambicans, why is that so. There would have been no illegal mining if government was operation a tight operation to ensure that nobody is able to come willy nilly into the republic.”

Meanwhile, ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba, says the blame cannot be put squarely on government because a lot of people went into the mines voluntarily.

“Where I disagree with him is to call this murder, because these people went into these mines voluntarily, they were not really forced by anyone. So, I think to put the blame squarely on government and the people of South Africa, because obviously if you blame the government, you blame all of us as citizens of this country.”

#sapsHQ [STILFONTEIN MISINFORMATION]
The South African Police Service (SAPS) wishes to clarify certain issues pertaining to matters related to Stilfontein and condemns the ongoing peddling of misinformation and lies.

The first matter is that of the personal information of… pic.twitter.com/Okw7HqU1Tw

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) January 18, 2025