The confirmation of bodies piling up at a disused mine in Stilfontein, North West, has led Mining Affected Communities United in Action to label the situation as "a massacre." MACUA says the government has lied about the possibility of exiting at shafts 10 and 11, further accusing the state of depriving the miners of food, medication and water for 13 days.

A DEADLY SITUATION

Footage of bodies wrapped in plastic bags underground in the disused mine was leaked and has caused major concern. "What has transpired here has to be called what it is: this is a Stilfontein Massacre. We have footage that shows a pile of human bodies that died carelessly. This is a bloody culmination of a treacherous policy that was pursued by the government in this police operation. This is beyond the closing of the mines and managing illegal mining," said a MACUA member speaking to the media. He added that the police making it seem like it's an easy process for the miners to exit the shaft was misleading. "It's a two-kilometre hole without a staircase or a lift. Why are the police acting as if the miners can miraculously exit, weak as they are?" We need to address the fact that those bodies piling up in that hole are a result of being deprived of food, medication and water.

THEY ARE CRIMINALS

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe has warned MACUA and reminded them to not overlook the criminal aspects of illegal mining. "One of the things that surprises me in South Africa is when South Africans place human rights at the centre of criminal activities. That worries me, because it suggests that we are preaching tolerance for criminality.MACUA should be careful not to promote criminality and to say we must protect criminality against justice and fairness," added Mantashe.