No more ‘illegal miners’ are believed to be trapped underground at the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein South Africa, volunteers working with rescue teams said on Thursday morning.
At least 78 bodies and more than 200 survivors have been pulled out since Monday after a court ordered the government to facilitate rescue operations at the mine, the site of one of the most extraordinary tragedies to hit the industry.
During a visit on Tuesday, the ANC and Democratic Alliance government ministers were booed and told to leave by an angry crowd that blamed the government for the deaths.
Police said that more than 1,500 miners had come to the surface before the rescue operation began.
However, others remained underground, either because they feared arrest or were forced to stay there by gangs that control the mine.
In August, police stopped food and water supplies from being taken down the discontinued mine to force people to the surface where they could be arrested.
In December, a court ruled that volunteers could send down essential aid for the miners. A rescue operation was finally agreed to last week.
Athlenda Mathe, the national spokesperson for the South African police, told journalists at the site: ‘Our mandate was to combat criminality and that is exactly what we’ve been doing.’
‘By providing food, water and necessities to these illegal miners, it would be the police entertaining and allowing criminality to thrive,’ she said.
But civil rights groups say the government’s weeks-long refusal to stage a rescue mission effectively left miners to die of starvation or dehydration.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions said in a statement : ‘These miners, many of them undocumented and desperate workers from Mozambique and other Southern African countries, were left to die in one of the most horrific displays of state wilful negligence in recent history.
‘This massacre reflects the South African government’s failure to uphold the most basic tenet of our Constitution: the right to life.
‘The Constitution guarantees this right to everyone within our borders, regardless of their nationality or legal status.
‘To allow anyone – be they citizens or undocumented immigrants – to starve to death in the depths of the earth is a direct violation of this principle and the state’s constitutional responsibility to protect life.
‘It is unconscionable that the South African government allowed this situation to deteriorate to such an extent.
‘While it is true that these miners were engaged in illegal mining activities, driven by desperation and extreme poverty, their actions do not justify condemnation to death by starvation.
‘The method of killing through starvation is reminiscent of the most brutal wars and genocides.
‘The South African government has often condemned the use of food as a weapon in conflicts like the one between Israel and Palestine, but here at home, it stands accused of employing the same barbaric tactics.
‘This hypocrisy cannot go unnoticed.
‘This callousness mirrors the stance of president Cyril Ramaphosa during the Marikana massacre, when he referred to striking miners as ‘dastardly criminal’ and called for ‘concomitant action’, which led to the killing of 34 workers.
‘The cold, nonchalant manner in which government officials treat this needless massacre is testament of how cheap black life is.
‘If pathological tests confirm that starvation was the cause of death, SAFTU will spare no effort in ensuring that those responsible within the government are held accountable. South Africa is not a banana republic where the state can act with impunity. The Constitution and international law demand justice, and SAFTU will fight for it.
‘SAFTU stands in solidarity with the survivors and the families of the deceased. We will continue to advocate for the rights of all workers, documented or undocumented, and for a government that respects human dignity and life. The right to life is non-negotiable, and SAFTU will not rest until justice is served.’
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU, also condemned the South African ANC led government and the police.
North West COSATU secretary Kopano Konopi said: ‘The issue of protecting human life and making sure that the people were brought back to the surface alive was not the priority of the government.
‘We believe that nobody in this democratic South Africa will condone acts of crime, but we are saying that people shouldn’t be prejudiced against these human beings who should not have been killed.
‘It is a sorrowful situation the state could have done better.
‘When this started in November, the government and the state forces should have made a commitment to rescue the miners, they should have been retrieving these people.
‘We would have retrieved more live bodies. That is why the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the ANC led government are responsible for what has happened.’
Clement Moeletsi, who was underground in the mine from August until 9th December last year said: ‘It was not an illness that killed them.
‘It was starvation. A cruel, drawn-out death that consumed them piece by piece.
‘This is what I saw underground.
‘This is what we lived through, and this is why, respectfully, no one, despite what they have done, should ever endure such suffering again.
‘I made the difficult decision to descend two kilometres underground, driven by financial hardship and the overwhelming need to provide for my family.
‘Despite my best efforts, I was unable to secure employment, leaving me without the means to support my household.
‘The pressure of not being able to provide food or basic necessities for my child and loved ones became unbearable, leaving me with no choice but to take this desperate step in the hope of alleviating our dire situation.’
Meanwhile, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, NUMSA, said on Thursday that it is continuing its indefinite strike at Bidvest South Africa’s Container Depot (SACD) in Durban over the sacking of 106 workers.
The employees started their strike at the beginning of this month after management and the union could not reach a deal during a Section 189 consultation.
The company stated that a significant decline in business activity is one of the reasons behind the restructuring.
NUMSA spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, said: ‘NUMSA engaged with the management, and at the end of the consultation process, we were unable to find one another.
‘We were not persuaded that retrenchment should go ahead because it became clear that Bidvest wanted to outsource the work of the SACD.
‘NUMSA is opposed to outsourcing because that will result in workers losing out on benefits and conditions which they obtained as permanent employees.
‘It also means a reduction in wages, and so we rejected this as a proposal. Bidvest would not consider other alternatives, only retrenchments (sackings).’