'Tiger was cruel, using sjambok to control the miners'

Rescued zama zamas recall difficult time under fugitive ring leader’s harsh laws

Jeanette Chabalala Senior Reporter
Police are looking for alleged illegal mining ring leader James Neo Tshoaeli, commonly known as Tiger.
Police are looking for alleged illegal mining ring leader James Neo Tshoaeli, commonly known as Tiger.
Image: SAPS

The alleged ringleader who escaped from police custody after being rescued from a mine in Stilfontein has been described as a "ruthless" and "cruel" figure who allegedly exerted total control over fellow miners, often using fear and violence to maintain his power.

The escape, allegedly with the aid of corrupt police officials, has added to suspicions of deep-rooted corruption and collusion between the police and the illegal mining syndicates. James Neo Tshoaeli, infamously known as Tiger, is alleged to have exerted total control over miners underground by using violence to control access to food and medication.

His reign of terror over fellow miners involved physical abuse, manipulation, and exploitation, with accounts of him assaulting people with a sjambok or other implements. An illegal miner who spoke to Sowetan yesterday described Tiger as a “ruthless man” who controlled food that was brought down by concerned community members.

“I remember there was a queue for food, and he was beating some miners with a sjambok.

“He just found pleasure in beating people because he is connected to people who run the illegal mining racket here. When I talk about him I become scared and angry at the same time. He was abusing miners underground,” said an illegal miner who asked not to be named. On Monday, police announced they had launched a manhunt for Tshoaeli, who disappeared after being rescued along side more than 80 illegal miners from shaft 11Buffelsfontein Mine last Wednesday. However, he escaped before he could even reach the police cells.

Police suspected that he could have been aided to flee before the police van reached Stilfontein police station, about 15minutes’ drive from the rescue site.

It wasn’t something that somebody thought on the spot, it couldn’t have been. If you identify a kingpin there must be maximum security around them.
Brig Athlenda Mathe

Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said: “This was well-planned, well-organised and well-coordinated. It wasn’t something that somebody thought on the spot, it couldn’t have been. If you identify a kingpin there must be maximum security around them.”

A police officer confirmed to Sowetan that Tshoaeli was never booked in at the station along with other rescued miners. Police are investigating his escape. “Acting provincial commissioner Major-Gen Patrick Asaneng has warned that heads will roll once they find those officials that aided the kingpin to escape from police custody,” said Mathe .

The miner that Sowetan spoke to said he had met Tiger, a Lesotho national, in August when police’s Operation Vala Umgodi intensified, leading to the blockage of food and other supplies to illegal miners.

“He instilled fear, some of us used to sleep with one eye open, afraid that he would also attack us. I saw him every day without fail.”

The man said Tiger sold medication underground and would sell pain medication, with a single Panado pill costing R200. At times miners would barter a gram of unwrought gold for a pill. He also sold a tube of skin ointment forR1,000. The ointment is used to soothe the pain caused by underground heat.

“He walked around holding his sjambok and decided who should eat.”

Another illegal miner described Tiger as “cruel ” and said he would instruct miners to beat one another up, claiming this would toughen them. Mathe said Tiger was a fugitive from justice and was regarded as dangerous. She said a senior officer picked up that Tiger had escaped when he visited the holding cells.

“He had the photos of the alleged kingpins and when he went to the cells, there were only three - they searched for him [Tiger] in other police stations and checked whether he was admitted to hospital and he was nowhere to be found,” she said.

Mining Affected Communities United in Action, which had advocated for the rights of those underground, said the escape “reflected more broadly on the corruption that plagues our public institutions”.

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