The blockaded shaft where dozens died

When Mzwandile Mkwai was lowered into a South African mine in a red steel cage attached to a shaft above the ground, the first thing that struck him was the smell.

“I’ll tell you something,” he told the BBC, “the bodies were very smelly”.

When he got home that day, he told his wife that he could not eat the meat he had cooked.

“It’s because when I spoke to the miners, they told me that some have to eat others [people] inside the mine because there was no way to get food. And they also eat cockroaches,” he said in a phone call from his home.

The fact that the miners resorted to cannibals to survive was also reported by other miners who were rescued in December, in statements made to the High Court.

Mkwye, an ex-convict, known as Shasha, lives in the town of Khuma which was close to the disused Stilfontein mine. The 36-year-old, who served seven years in prison for robbery, volunteered to help with the rescue operation.

“I am being rehabilitated by the management and I volunteered because the people of our community are looking for help for their children and relatives.

“The rescue company said they don’t have anyone willing to go down. So my friend Mandla and I agreed to volunteer to help our brothers get up and take out the bodies.”

But despite his desire to help, the 25-minute trek through the 2km (1.2 miles) deep river filled him with dread.

The bird would stop and start from time to time, leaving him hanging in the dark. As soon as he got down from the mine, he was surprised by what he saw.

“There were a lot of bodies, more than 70 bodies, and about 200 people who were without water.

“I felt very weak when I saw them, it was very painful. But Mandla and I decided that we need to be strong and not show them how we feel to encourage them.”

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The miners, who had been waiting for help for months, received a warm welcome.

He said: “They were very happy.

The miners were stuck there following a nationwide police operation to crack down on illegal mining in abandoned areas that have been closed, as the industry – once the backbone of the country’s economy – is shrinking.

It was no longer profitable for multinationals to operate in many areas, but the promise of still finding gold deposits was a magnet for many desperate people – especially undocumented immigrants.

Thousands of rivers were abandoned.

In November, the police made an effort at the Buffelsfontein mine in Stilfontein, surrounding the shaft entrance and refusing to let food and water down.

Before the rescue operation started on Monday, the local people tried their best by lowering a rope down the shaft in an attempt to get some of the people out.

He also sent messages and told the mine workers that help was coming.

“So when we got there, they were already waiting for the crane. Now when they see us, they see us as their presidents, as their messiahs: people who came from outside into the pit to help them get back.”

The police said that illegal miners always come out on their own but refuse to do so for fear of arrest. But Mkwai argues: “It is a lie that people did not want to come forward.”

While at the mine site on Tuesday, the BBC saw dozens of people rescued.

They looked thin, their bones were visible through their clothes. Some were unable to walk and needed the help of doctors.

In statements made to the high court, the illegal miners describe in detail the slow and painful death of their colleagues. They say many died of hunger.

“From September to October 2024, the lack of basic food was complete, and survival became a daily battle against hunger,” said a miner.

Mkwyi says the men he rescued were so weak that a rescue cage that was supposed to hold seven healthy adults could only hold 13 of them.

“They didn’t need a lot of water and had lost weight so we were able to enter the cage a lot, because they couldn’t stay two days under the hole. They would have died if we didn’t get them out quickly. .”

The volunteers were also responsible for carrying the bodies.

“The rescue officials gave us bags and told us to put the bodies and bring them to the barn, which we did with the help of some of the miners.

The rescue operation was originally supposed to last a week, but after just three days, the volunteers said no one had been left behind.

Officials sent a camera down the shaft for a final sweep. They say the mine will now be closed completely.

But what has happened to them has had a profound effect on Mkway.

At one point during the call he asks for the question to be repeated, explaining that his hearing has been affected since he went down the mine, possibly due to pressure.

But the most painful things have been based on what he saw.

“I have to tell you, I am devastated. I will never forget the sight of these people for the rest of my life.”

For activists and community aid organizations, the death of 87 people in the mine is a “murder” by the authorities.

The use of emotional words has been compared to the shooting by the police of 34 miners in Marikanaabout 150km (93 miles) from Stilfontein, in 2012.

But this time no triggers were pulled. Instead, it appears that many men starved to death.

The authorities reject the idea that they were responsible.

The government launched a campaign against illegal mining in December 2023 through Operation Vala Umgodi (meaning “close the hole” in isiZulu).

The abandoned mines had been taken over by gangs, often led by former workers, who sold the finds on the black market.

People were involved in this illegal trade, either by force or voluntarily, and spent months digging underground. The government says illegal mining cost South Africa $3.2bn (£2.6bn) in 2024 alone.

As part of the police operation, entrances to various disused mines were closed, along with food and water, in an effort to flush out illegal miners, known as zama zamas (which means “takers”).

Although Vala Umgodi was very successful in other areas, the old Buffelsfontein gold mine had a special problem.

Before the police started working, most of the miners were able to go underground using machines made by people on the ground.

But then they gave up on the top of the mine when security officials arrived in large numbers in August, leaving the miners stranded.

Locals then stepped in to help, pulling a few people using ropes, but it was a long, tiring time.

Some difficult and dangerous exits were present and about 2,000 in all appeared again – many were arrested and kept in police custody.

Why some didn’t come out is not known – either they were too weak or they were being threatened by the gang in the mine – but they were left in the lurch.

Of the 87 dead, only two have been identified, police said on Thursday, explaining that many were undocumented migrants, making the operation difficult.

“We are of the opinion that the government has blood on its hands,” Magnificent Mndebele of the Mining Affected Communities United in Action group (Macua), told the BBC.

He said the miners were never warned about what was about to happen before the police operation began.

In the past two months, Macua has been at the forefront of various legal cases launched to force the government to first allow the supplies and then carry out the rescue operation.

His accusation against the government is similar to what families have said in the past that the authorities killed their loved ones.

They had been struggling ever since the operation started. In the month of November, one minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, made the most infamous statement at a press conference that he “smoked them”.

The government refused to drop food or anyone else to help the mine workers, but agreed after several court appeals.

In the month of November, a little bit of corn and water was brought down, but in his statement to the court, one of the workers of the mine said that it was not enough for the hundreds of men on the ground, most of them were very weak. so much so that they cannot even chew and swallow. them.

A large amount of food was provided in December, but it could not sustain the men.

Given that the operation to recover the people and the bodies only lasted three days, it is difficult for Mndebele to understand why this could not have been done sooner when it was known that there was an issue.

“We are disappointed with our government, to be honest, because the help has come so late.”

Although the government has not yet responded to the allegations, the police have promised to continue with the work of removing unused mines in the country until the month of May this year.

Speaking to the media in Stilfontein on Tuesday, Minister of Mines Gwede Mantashe was unapologetic. He said the government will work hard against illegal mining, which he said is a crime and an attack on the economy.

On Thursday, the police minister, Senzo Mchunu, partially agreed.

“I understand and accept that this is an emotional issue. Everyone wants to judge … but it would help us all as South Africans to wait until the pathologists are done with their work,” he said.

Police have defended their actions, saying that providing food to the miners “would have allowed crime to flourish”.

Illegal miners have been accused of promoting crime in the areas where they operate.

A number of articles have been published in local newspapers linking the history of various rapes and murders.

But for Mkwai, who put his safety on the line to help the miners, the men in the Stilfontein mine were just out to make money.

“People descended 2km by rope and risked their lives to put food for their families.”

He said he wants the government to issue licenses to miners who are forced to enter mines that are not being used due to high unemployment in South Africa.

“If your children are hungry, you can’t think of going there because you have to feed them. You risk your life to put food on the table.”