The South African National Civic Organisation in the North West has lambasted the Community Safety MEC for failing to implement a rescue plan to extract illegal miners from an abandoned mine.
Two more bodies have been retrieved from shaft 11 of a disused Stilfontein gold mine on Wednesday, bringing the tally of deceased miners to four in the last two days.
It was still unclear whether the third and final phase of the government’s rescue plan would occur after the police said the mine rescue teams said it was too dangerous.
Last Friday, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu assured community leaders that their alleged exclusion from the rescue committee, led by Morweng, would be corrected.
Sanco's provincial spokesperson, Mzukisi Jam, accused MEC Wessels Morweng of continuing to sideline them.
He said the government has never shown any interest in saving the miners since questions were raised about the police’s anti-illicit mining operations at the mine.
“It looks like he thinks we are running some sort of a circus. He’s clowning. A meeting has not sat, there’s no indication when it will sit, and there’s no improvement. With that lack of improvement, we must expect more bodies to come out of these hell holes.”
Jam said he was disappointed that despite the organisation's efforts to convince the government of the urgency of the matter, there had been no progress.
“It’s heartbreaking to be here and see dead bodies being retrieved from underground. This is what we have been complaining about. We have been given reports that most of the people who are left down there are very weak, and they can die at any time.”
Meanwhile, the case brought by the Mining Affected Communities United in Action for immediate provision of aid to the miners was scheduled to be heard in the North Gauteng High Court on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the court found that the police minister breached the interim order granted at the weekend after volunteers accused officers of limiting the amount and types of food that could be lowered down the shaft.
It was still unclear how many suspected illegal miners remained underground.
According to the police minister, nearly 3,000 suspected illegal miners have emerged from various mines in the province since December 2023.
The majority of those who were arrested faced charges of illegal mining and contravention of the Immigration Act.
*MEC Wessels Morweng's office had not responded to questions at the time of publishing.
