The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has criticized utterances made by Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni who told reporters that government will not attempt to rescue illegal miners stranded underground in Stilfontein in the North West – but instead, government would “smoke them out”.
At a post Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday, Ntshavheni said government would not help criminals.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. We are not sending help to criminals. Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted,” she said.
“We didn’t send them there, and they didn’t go down there for the good benefit or for the good intentions for the Republic. So, we can’t help them.
“Those who want to help them, they must go and take the food down there. They will come out, we will arrest them,” she emphasized.
The remarks have sparked a whirlwind of reactions, with some supporting the minister’s strong stance while others lambasted Ntshavheni, saying her words lack empathy to the families who have gathered to seek help for their miners.
NUM acting deputy general secretary Phillip Mankge said Ntshavheni's remarks were inhumane irresponsible.
“As NUM we would like to categorically clear that we do not support the statement. Infact it is inhumane and irresponsible of the minister to utter such words when the people are trapped underground,” he told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika in an interview.
Manke said for a very long time, people in South Africa have mined manually, before mining was highly regulated as it is now.
“What is wrong with African people when they want to go back to their primitive mining stage, to say we want to mine ourselves because we have abundance of gold, chrome and all sorts of minerals in South Africa,” he said.
Manke insisted there is nothing criminal about what the trapped men’s activities.
On Wednesday, IOL reported that the community of Stilfontein has rallied resources and manpower to intervene and rescue illegal miners - said to be in their thousands - who are stranded underground in disused mine shafts after police cut off the channels of much-needed supplies, including food and water.
In recent days, community members have been gathering, waving placards reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Free Our Brothers”, calling on government to intervene and rescue the stranded miners, colloquially referred to as zama zamas.
One community member who was sent by the community to go underground returned with feedback that there are thousands of people in dire need, with many feeling sick and dehydrated, while others have died.
Hundreds of the illegal miners have emerged in recent days, into the hands of waiting police and members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).
A community leader Johannes Qankase said community members would be sending a rope down to try and bring the sick miners up.
Qankase said Operation Vala Umgodi cannot be used by police backed by members of the SA National Defence Force to starve the miners.
“The Constitution is very clear that everyone has the right to life. You cannot deprive a person water and food. If ever they (police) had a plan … we told them initially that this Vala Umgodi did not have a plan. You cannot just come and say Vala Umgodi (close the shaft) where you do not have a proper plan,” said Qankase.
He insisted that police should have given the miners ample notice to vacate before the shafts were sealed.
“You cannot just come, bring the police, bring the army and just stand there in the holes. What are they saying about those lives that are underneath? We don’t have a problem, we support Vala Umgodi, (but) you cannot close the shafts when there is people underneath,” he said.
“You must understand, the issue of closing the mines is not the responsibility of the police or the army. It is a responsibility of the DMRE which has failed us as a community for the past 40 to 50 years. Right now, we have only one issue, let us save lives.”
One woman wept uncontrollably during an interview with the television channel, while other women also cried. Another woman said her husband has been trapped underground for months, while another woman said her neighbours are also in the mine.
IOL