MEDIA BRIEFING BY MEC WM MORWENG ON AN ONGOING STILFONTEIN ILLEGAL MINING SAGA

Stilfontein Police Station

Deputy Provincial Commissioner General Patrick Asaneng
Members of the Media
Good afternoon
There had been a lot of activities since we last engaged you here last Monday. As indicated then, the resurfacing of the illegal miners is a police operation. The plan to resurface them is divided into three Phases. The First Phase which has been completed began on Tuesday and was completed on Wednesday. This Phase included clearing of all the boulders and concrete slabs which had been on the entrance of the Shaft. This is important to avoid them falling into the Shaft and endangering the illegal miners underneath.
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.
It is worth mentioning that on Friday there was a note that was sent from under the ground saying that there are approximately 500 illegal miners underneath and 300 of them are unwell. They are also requesting for more food.
Some of the people who resurfaced have indicated that they had been held against their will by other highly armed illegal miners underground.
Since the last media briefing here last week on Monday, four days later on the 22nd of November 2024, nine miners came out through Margaret Shaft. Of these nine, seven are Mozambicans, one from Zimbabwe and one is a South African.
On the 23rd of November, twelve miners came out again through the Margaret Shaft and elven were Mozambicans and one Zimbabwean.
On the 24th, fourteen came from Shaft 10 and all of them are Mozambicans. This is the shaft the mining authorities had indicated that is flooded. Again, it is worth mentioning that these illegal miners were all wet when they came out proving that indeed there was a body of water down there.
Today, on the 25th of November 2024, twenty illegal miners resurfaced at the Margaret Shaft which they had always been encouraged to use. Of them, fifteen are Lesotho nationals, three are Mozambicans, and two are Zimbabweans. This brings the number of the illegal miners who resurfaced in the last 24 hours to thirty-four.
So far fifty-five illegal miners had resurfaced since Monday. There is an issue that has been widely reported of one of those who resurfaced to be a fourteen-year-old. This information will still need to be verified as no documentation was found with him to prove that indeed he is of the age that he says he is.
The total number of illegal miners who had resurfaced since the 18th of August 2024 are1 258. Of them, 871 are Mozambicans, 343 are Zimbabweans, 33 are Lesotho nationals, one Malawian and only ten are South Africans. So far, one body was resurfaced and the pathology process is underway to verify the nationality and the time of his death. All miners once resurfaced are taken through law enforcement process and thereafter all undocumented foreign nationals are processed by Home Affairs through their procedures.
ENDS!!!
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SAFETY AND TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT.