South Africa Cuts Supplies To Thousands Of Illegal Miners Hiding Underground

An estimated 4,000 illegal gold miners are hiding underground in South Africa after the government cut off food and water in an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them.

The miners have been in a mineshaft in Stilfontein, in the North West province, for about a month.

They have refused to cooperate with authorities as some are undocumented - coming from neighbouring countries like Lesotho and Mozambique - and fear being deported.

Illegal miners are called "zama zama" ("take a chance" in Zulu) and operate in abandoned mines in the mineral-rich country. Illegal mining costs the South African government hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales each year.

Many South African mines have closed down in recent years and workers have been sacked.

To survive, the miners and undocumented migrants go beneath the surface to escape poverty and dig up gold to sell it on the black market.

Some spend months underground - there is even a small economy of people selling food, cigarettes and cooked meals to the miners.

Local residents have pleaded with the authorities to assist the miners, but they have refused.

"We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. We are not sending help to criminals. Criminals are not to be helped - they are to be persecuted [sic]," said Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni on Wednesday.

Police are hesitant to go into the mine as some of those underground may be armed.

Some are part of criminal syndicates or "recruited" to be in one, Busi Thabane, from Benchmarks Foundation, a charity which monitors corporations in South Africa, told the BBC's NewsDay programme.

Without any access to supplies, conditions underground are said to be dire.

"It is no longer about illegal miners – this is a humanitarian crisis," said Ms Thabane.

On Thursday, community leader Thembile Botman told the BBC that volunteers had used ropes and seat belts to pull a body out of the mine.

"The stench of decomposing bodies has left the volunteers traumatised," he said.

It's not clear how the person died.

Although the authorities have been blocking food and water, they have temporarily allowed local residents to send some supplies down by rope.

Mr Botman said they had been communicating with the miners by notes written on pieces of paper.

Police have blocked off entrances and exits in an effort to compel the miners to come out.

This is part of the Vala Umgodi, or "Close the Hole", operation to curb illegal mining.

Five miners were pulled out on Wednesday by rope, but they were frail and weak. Paramedics attended to them, and then they were taken into police custody.

In the last week, 1,000 miners have emerged and been arrested.

Police and the army are still at the scene waiting to detain those who are not in need of medical care after resurfacing.

"It’s not as easy as the police make it seem – some of them are fearing for their lives," said Ms Thabane.

Many miners spend months underground in unsafe conditions to provide for their families.

"For many of them it's the only way they know how to put food on the table," said Ms Thabane.BBC