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Police in South Africa stated on Sunday that 225 illegal miners had been apprehended after they were forced to leave an abandoned mine shaft, unable to sustain themselves due to insufficient food and water.
The miners, commonly referred to as “zama zamas” or “those who try” in the Zulu language, ascended from an unused shaft in Orkney, a town steeped in gold mining history, located in North West Province’s Klerksdorp district.
According to a police spokesperson in a statement to AFP on Sunday, the men were arrested by law enforcement.
The men were driven out “as a result of starvation and dehydration,” police said, explaining that security agencies had blocked routes previously used by accomplices to supply the miners with food and water.
Police added that they were still monitoring the abandoned mine shafts “as more and more illegal miners resurface”.
“These 225 illegal miners are part of others believed to be hundreds if not a thousand illegal miners who are stuck underground,” a statement issued late on Saturday said.
Read also: Illegal Mineral Mining: FG Orders Arrest Of Three Chinese
Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, said that more than 13,691 suspected illegal miners had been arrested in seven provinces since December 2023.
“We have seized R5 million (around $283,000) in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million (around $1.8 million),” said Sibiya.
Thousands of illegal miners, many from other countries, operate in the mineral-rich nation, living and working in arduous conditions.
Their activities frustrate mining companies and are seen as a source of criminality by local residents.
