Rescuers trying to save 150 'trapped zama zamas in Sabie'

The arrest of six illegal miners has led authorities on a mammoth mission to rescue about 150 zama zamas who are feared to be trapped underground in Sabie, Mpumalanga.

By 7.30pm on Wednesday, authorities had already retrieved three bodies during an operation that went into the evening. The six arrested miners were arrested on Tuesday, shortly after they had “escaped” from the disused mine shaft and were captured by security guards who alerted the police.

The nabbed miners then lifted the lid on what was happening underground, revealing that they had seen the bodies of three miners and that about 150 others were trapped. The rescue teams were using ropes to pull out the bodies which were laid out on spine board stretchers.

The operation was suspended before 8pm on Wednesday night and rescue is expected to resume on Thursday morning.

Of the six arrested miners, two were foreign nationals while four were locals. Police spokesperson Brig Donald Mdhluli Mdhluli said the security guards came across six men who were fleeing from the shaft on Tuesday and apprehended them.

After they were captured, they informed the guards that they and others had been trapped inside the mine. Mdhluli said several units were dispatched to the area for the rescue mission.

“All the units from the police, private security, the health department and home affairs are trying to retrieve the illegal miners trapped,” Mdhluli said.

“According to the rescued individuals, they had been forced to work and mine for gold by their captors under dangerous and dire conditions. Tragically, three individuals lost their lives while trapped inside the mine shaft. In light of this incident, it is believed that the ones running this illegal operation could possibly be heavily armed.”

One of the illegal miners told Sowetan he had been forced to work there and that he and the others escaped to free themselves. The miner said they were forcefully sent into the shaft to dig for gold some weeks ago. However, he claimed, their food and water were not delivered for three weeks.

“We work for these guys to dig for gold and get some money and then we started not receiving food from them because they started fighting among themselves. We ran out of food and sometimes we’d drink the poisonous water from the shaft to get some strength which helped us to get out. Some of the people down there are very weak.”

He said their “bosses” would man all the exit points of the shaft and if one of the illegal miners tries to escape, they risk being confronted and shot.

Last week, a police officer was injured during a shootout with illegal miners. Three of them were killed, police said.

The incidents in Sabie come as the country is still focusing on the Stilfontein mine in the North West, where five zama zama bodies have been pulled from the shaft of the mine. The miners were part of a group of more than 3,000 who had been in the 2,000-metre deep shaft for more than a month before police pounced on them and allegedly prevented supplies from being sent down to them.

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