STILFONTEIN IN NUMBERS | Only 26 of the almost 2,000 zama zamas are South African

Only 26 South Africans were among the almost 2,000 zama zamas who resurfaced alive from the Stilfontein illegal mining operations.

SAPS national spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said their operation at the Buffelsfontein shaft 11 that started on Monday led to the retrieval of 246 people and 78 bodies.

Breakdown of the nationalities of those retrieved:

• Mozambican: 128
• Lesotho: 80
• Zimbabweans: 33
• South Africans: 5

Mathe said between August 18 2024 and Wednesday, 1,905 zama zamas had resurfaced.

At the Margaret shaft, also in Stilfontein, 1,437 illegal miners resurfaced.

Mathe said at the Buffelsfontein shaft 11 , 365 illegal miners resurfaced while at 10 shaft 10,103 emerged.

The majority of them — 1,125 — were Mozambicans, followed by Zimbabweans (465) with 200 being from Lesotho. There were only 26 South Africans.

The other two were a Malawian and a Congolese.

The total number of bodies recovered was 87.

“Of the illicit miners arrested nine are still in hospital under police guard,” Mathe said.

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