'They said they would smoke them out; they did that': Stilfontein community leader

Stilfontein community leader Thembile Botman has accused the government of being responsible for the deaths of illegal miners in Stilfontein.

By Thursday, 78 bodies had been retrieved and 246 illegal miners were rescued. 

Botman believes the police operation Vala Umgodi, where supplies of food, water and other basics were blocked, led to the deaths of the illegal miners.

“There's no excuse. The government must take responsibility for what happened,” he said, speaking to the media on Thursday.

“The people who died here did not die due to illegal mining. They died because of operation Vala Umgodi, which was designed to starve them.

“Even the minister in the Presidency [Khumbudzo Ntshavheni] said they would smoke them out, and we feel they did. Congratulations to them.”

Since August last year, more than 2,000 illegal miners have surfaced through operation Vala Umgodi and 87 bodies have been recovered.

Botman said though the miners were engaging in illegal activities they didn't deserve to die.

“Maybe let's agree that these people are criminals, but the government has killed criminals. We hope the court will prove criminals were killed by the government.

“We are here to protect the constitution, which states everyone has a right to life and dignity and that's what those people were denied.”

As the death toll has mounted, authorities and government have been criticised.

General secretary of the trade union federation Saftu, Zwelinzima Vavi, has vowed to hold the government accountable if pathology tests confirm starvation caused the deaths of illegal miners.

“These miners, many of them undocumented and desperate workers from Mozambique and other Southern African countries, were left to die in one of the most horrific displays of state wilful negligence in recent history. The method of killing through starvation is reminiscent of the most brutal wars and genocides. This hypocrisy cannot go unnoticed,” Vavi said.

The government has defended the siege as part of a necessary crackdown on illegal mining.

“It's a criminal activity. It's an attack on our economy by foreigners in the main,” mineral and petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday.

TimesLIVE