The operation to rescue illegal miners trapped in the disused Stilfontein gold mine in South Africa ended with a heavy toll: 78 bodies were found. According to South African media, some miners resorted to cannibalism to survive.
After several months of siege to dislodge illegal workers, police finally launched a rescue operation this week. 246 miners made it out of the mine alive before the operation began, but many others, too weak to return, remained trapped underground. The final toll stands at 78 dead, a figure “never seen in South Africa“, according to witnesses.
The South African news channel SABC News reports that “signs of cannibalism” were discovered in the mine. Some miners are said to have eaten body parts of their companions to survive.
-The police are accused of causing the death of some miners by limiting access to food and water during the eviction operation. The police defend themselves by asserting that “no one stopped anyone from going out“and that providing food to illegal miners would amount to”maintaining illegal mining activities“.
A widespread phenomenon
There are tens of thousands of “zama zamas”, as illegal miners are called in South Africa, often exploited by criminal gangs. Many are foreigners, which reinforces xenophobic tensions in the country. The Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, described the activity of “zama zamas” as “attack on our economy by foreign nationals“.
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