Potchefstroom – At least 20 suspected illegal miners surfaced from the abandoned gold mine shaft at Stilfontein, in the North West, on Wednesday, (27 November 2024).
North West police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said: “Twenty illegal miners resurfaced today, (27/11/2024), at Margaret Shaft.
“They consist of 10 Lesotho, six Zimbabwe, and four Mozambique foreign nationals. They are still being processed.”
Earlier Wednesday, Petrus Diko, from the North West Social Development Department said: “The preliminary report at our disposal indicates that there are 14 children so far who have resurfaced from the [abandoned] mine”.
Diko said the Department of Health was verifying the age of the arrested teenagers.
“This is an ongoing process, that involves many stakeholders including the SA Police Service, international social services, and government departments,” Diko said.
Police said they were investigating allegations of possible trafficking of children to work as labourers and sex slaves.
Commenting on the allegations, Diko said: “At this stage, we cannot make some speculations or suspicions on whether they were trafficked or not. The police are still doing the investigations”.
Asked if any of the children rescued from the shaft were foreign nationals, Doko said: “So far we have made contact with the Consulate General of Mozambique… We are handling this matter on case by case basis”.
Diko said the children were being housed in a safe place, pending their court appearances on charges related to the illegal mining of gold.
On Sunday night 14 suspected illegal miners – known locally as Zama Zamas – were arrested when they surfaced. One of the arrested suspects was said to be a 14-year-old boy.
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Others avoided arrest by simply going back into the shaft using ropes dangling from the top.
Soon after the arrests, police said all the suspects were from Mozambique.
