The Mineral and Resources Minister pleaded with the families of illegal miners to not send "untrained" people underground in a bid to rescue those trapped.
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Johannesburg - Mineral and Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, on Monday pleaded with the families of illegal miners to not send “untrained” people underground in a bid to rescue those trapped at a disused mine in Langlaagte, west of Johannesburg.
“We to request the families of the affected to work together with the team that is working here. It is in the best interest of everybody that no untrained person should try and go underneath to try to rescue [those that are trapped]. The situation is not conducive and in other areas, the space is so small that you cannot use your own rescue equipment to move forward,” Zwane said.
This comes as an unconfirmed number of illegal miners entered the disused shaft to mine gold on Wednesday, and when they failed to emerge, 16 more went down the next day to look for them.
Three of the illegal miners were rescued on Sunday morning. Two of them were arrested while a third was taken to hospital.
This was before the operation to rescue them was suspended indefinitely after a fire broke out deep inside the shaft which has toxic levels of carbon monoxide.
Four more illegal miners were taken into custody on Monday morning when they came out of the shaft voluntarily.
Zwane said the rescue operation was being halted indefinitely until the conditions underground were “conducive” for rescue.
“The situation is not conducive currently. There is fire and smoke that will deter the rescuers going there. We have since stopped the mission, we are waiting for the situation to be correct to send people there and we will recommence once it is conducive for the rescue team,” Zwane said.
He said the department of mineral resources was working together with other departments to deal with illegal mining, and up to 800 people, including the “kingpins” of the trade, have been arrested.
“We have taken a decision to seal the holes that are there in areas where mines have stopped operating. Up to now we have closed up to 200 holes, both using the department and the [mining] companies. But that does not deter the illegal miners to stop operating because they know the area very well,” Zwane said.
“This issue is not only about the department. The team working together has increased the sentences from two months to eight years, which will work in our favour.
“We have also taken this matter to the African Union (AU) because we need to deal with the markets. For as long as there are markets out there, these people will be forced to go underground and fight against each other for the holes.”
Mines Rescue Services, the company responsible for the rescue operation, was not on site on Monday.
Relatives of the trapped illegal miners pleaded with authorities to be allowed to go underground and rescue their loved ones.
It is suspected that there are multiple groups that operate at the closed mine shaft at Johannesburg’s oldest and disused gold mine at George Harrison Park.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called on government and the mining employer body to look into the regulation of independent small scale mining in the wake of an increase in illegal mining activities in the country.
African News Agency