The siege of South African Stillfontein mine, which we had talked about the 7 December 2024, concluded last week with the emergence of 240 miners alive but reduced to skeletons and the Recovery of 78 bodiesThe mine had been blocked by police since November, who had cut off food and water supplies in an attempt to force the miners out.
James Neo Tshoaeli: The accusations against the “boss” of the Stillfontein mine
Fellow miners have accused a foreign national, from Lesotho, the small enclave state in South Africa, James Neo Tshoaeli said “Tiger” to be the “boss” that controlled the operations in the gold mine abandoned accusing him of some underground deaths. As can be seen, everywhere in the world the blame is always of the "foreigners".
Police said some police officers same they had helped Tshoaeli, a run away after being pulled out of the Stilfontein mine, starting a manhunt of the alleged “leader,” accused by some miners of being responsible for “deaths, assaults and torture” underground, according to a police statement. Mr. Tshoaeli was also alleged to have stockpiled and kept food away from other miners, many of whom appeared emaciated and weak when they emerged from the shaft.
Rescue or Negligence? Criticism of South African Police
In any case, this escape has greatly "embarrassed" the police, who after months of a terrible siege blocking the mine shafts and was forced by a court order government to facilitate last week's rescue operation. As the rescue drew to a close, police said it would be a “herculean task” to identify the 78 bodies recovered, partly because many of them were illegal migrants. The miners had been underground since November last year, when police launched a nationwide operation against theillegal mining.
Thousands of illegal miners, known as “zama zamas” (“those who try their luck” in Zulu), operate in mineral-rich South Africa. The Stilfontein mine, about 145 km (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, has now been cleared of both bodies and living people, police said.
Un trade union e human rights activists, have accused authorities said they had supervised a “massacre,” but the police He defended his actions, saying they were criminal and that it was the kingpins responsible for illegal mining who were controlling the flow of supplies and trying to stop people from resurfacing.