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Trapped miners' desperate letters reveal grim conditions, numerous fatalities and lack of food

Trapped miners' desperate letters reveal grim conditions, numerous fatalities and lack of food
A community member wearing a mask prepares to assist trapped miners near the entrance to a disused gold mine shaft in Stilfontein, about 150km south-west of Johannesburg, South Africa, on 19 November 2024. A South African court has ordered the lifting of a police blockade of the abandoned gold mine, in which people are illegally located. Official rescue attempts are due to start as an unknown number of illegal gold miners, or Zama Zama, are trapped underground. EPA-EFE/KIM LUDBROOK
Takudzwa Pongweni
By Takudzwa Pongweni
10 Jan 2025
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Trapped illegal miners in Stilfontein have issued a grim update on their condition, with reports of starvation and deaths escalating.

Letters sent to the surface by illegal miners trapped underground at an abandoned mine in Stilfontein, North West, have given an update on their desperate situation for the first time in two weeks. This comes after the recovery of another body from the mine.

The letters paint a grim picture of the situation underground, with reports of people dying by the hour, and at least 109 fatalities so far. The miners describe living in constant fear and urgently call for assistance.

They highlight the presence of numerous decomposing bodies and warn that more will need to be recovered each day. The food sent is insufficient to feed everyone, they warn. The miners plead for assistance in rescuing those who are critically ill, expressing fear for their own safety as each day brings new deaths.

“This desperate plea underscores the brutal conditions these miners endure. They have been without food or lifesaving supplies for 15 days, and the mine’s design — Shaft 11 plunging two kilometres underground with no viable exit and Shaft 10 accessible only by a dangerously corroded structure — makes escape impossible without external rescue. Despite these dire circumstances, the state has been paralysed by debates over responsibility, conveniently shifting blame while lives are lost,” said Magnificent Mndebele, the spokesperson for Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua).

​​On Thursday, 9 January 2025, community volunteers helping the miners used a newly constructed pulley system to send food, water, and essential supplies, after the original system was destroyed. The last delivery to those trapped took place on 24 December 2024.

“While there is still a huge uphill battle in terms of getting the structure back and sending down vital humanitarian aid, this is a powerful step in the right direction,” the Stilfontein Crisis Committee, which consists of community leaders, mining organisations and human rights activists, said in a statement. 

Read more: Stilfontein illegal miners are ‘eating human flesh’ and cockroaches to survive, rescued miners tell ConCourt

Police estimate hundreds still trapped 


The exact number of miners underground remains unclear. While some sources suggest there are more than 4,000, the police estimate that a few hundred remain. More than 1,000 miners have resurfaced as a result of the ongoing Operation Vala Umgodi, a crackdown on illegal mining, and eight bodies have been retrieved. 

On Tuesday, 7 January, 20 illegal miners were back at the Stilfontein Magistrate’s Court in North West.

North West police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone told Daily Maverick that the court sentenced each of the accused to six months in prison, or a R12,000 fine, for illegal mining.

However, the sentences were fully suspended for five years, on the condition that the miners were not convicted of illegal mining during the suspension period.

In addition, the illegal miners received a sentence of three months in prison or a R6,000 fine, also wholly suspended for five years, provided they were not convicted of violating South Africa’s Immigration Act.

A system of pulleys and ropes installed by members of the South Africa Police Service is set up over an entrance to the disused gold mine shaft in Stilfontein. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Stringer)



A community member wearing a mask prepares to assist trapped miners near the entrance to the disused shaft in Stilfontein on 19 November 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Kim Ludbrook)



Following the sentencing, the accused were deported to their countries of origin by the Department of Home Affairs on 7 January.

“Meanwhile, five illegal miners resurfaced at Margaret Shaft on Tuesday morning, 7 January 2025.  This brings the total number of illegal miners arrested between 18 August 2024 and 7 January 2025 to 1,567,” said Mokgwabone.

The Stilfontein Crisis Committee alleges that on Thursday morning, the South African Police Service (SAPS) unlawfully obstructed the Stilfontein community’s efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the miners. Despite a court order allowing the community to assist the trapped miners, SAPS officials prevented them from bringing a tractor on to the site. However, Lawyers for Human Rights, representing the Mining Affected Communities United in Action in the case, intervened and successfully held the SAPS to account.

However, Mokgwabone has denied the allegations of obstruction.

“We have never prevented anyone from sending aid underground, and we cannot confirm the exact number of illegal miners underground,” he said.

Drone footage suggestion 


Mining Affected Communities United in Action has announced that funding has been secured for a drone to assess the conditions at the abandoned mine in Stilfontein.

It says it has submitted this proposal to the government, detailing that it has successfully secured funding to hire a drone expert. The expert will use a specialised drone to assess and document the underground conditions at Shafts 10 and 11 of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine.

“The video footage obtained through this drone inspection will be instrumental in providing all concerned parties, and possibly including the court, with a clearer understanding of the conditions faced by the trapped miners. The footage that can be obtained by the drone will serve to illuminate the circumstances underground, thereby facilitating informed decision-making about the urgency of the rescue operation, which the state has dragged its feet on for the past two months,” said Mndebele.

“Upon completion of the drone operation, it is hoped that the evidence will be made available for joint assessment by all parties involved. This process will be conducted in an open and transparent manner to ensure fairness and accountability.”

Concerns mounting and more court action


Concerns are growing over the slow progress in rescuing the miners. The Good Party is the latest organisation to call for Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to step in. Good’s general secretary, Brett Herron, expressed shock at the government’s actions, terming it “astonishing that our government is acting in such an anti-constitutional manner disregarding the human rights of hundreds of miners who are stuck almost 2,000 metres below the Earth’s surface in Stilfontein”.

He added that the deaths already reported at the Buffelsfontein mine shafts highlighted the inhumaneness of the response.

“Further to the blatant disregard for the human rights of the miners, the government is perpetuating a humanitarian crisis,” he said in a statement. 

Herron said the government had neglected to address the root socioeconomic factors driving illegal mining, such as unemployment and a lack of economic opportunities. Instead of acknowledging its role in the situation and offering assistance, the government had firmly entrenched itself behind the justification of upholding the rule of law.

“It is unlikely those trapped are the masterminds of the country’s illegal mining syndicates, but rather the poor and vulnerable who are doing their best to make a living in the current tough economic climate,” he said. 

Courts approached to try to secure mine rescue services 


Zinzi Tom, an affected community member, has filed an urgent application in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria, demanding immediate action from the government to fund and contract mine rescue services. 

Through Lawyers for Human Rights, Zinzi argues that the MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management in North West, along with several national ministers, must take responsibility for the rescue operations without delay. She contends that the Constitution mandates urgent action to protect the fundamental rights to life and dignity, and insists that the cost of the rescue should not fall on the miners or their communities, who have already suffered due to systemic failures.

 Zinzi’s brother, Ayanda Tom, is one of the hundreds of artisanal miners trapped underground since July 2024. 

In her affidavit, Zinzi states: “I bring this application as an urgent bid to save my brother’s life, in hope that he is still alive. I also bring this application in the interests of women and children whose loved ones are trapped underground, facing imminent death.”

 The case is set to be heard in the high court today. DM

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