Machinery to speed up operations of retrieving illegal miners who remain underground at the Stillfontein in North West has arrived in the area.

THERE IS PROGRESS

SAFTU Secretary-General Zwelinzima Vavi expressed relief after heavy machinery arrived at the Stilfontein mine. "There is some movement there since some rescue teams are now on the ground and the operation has started. That gives the families hope. The cry of that woman from uMlazi saying that even when her dog dies she buries it, so if her husband and two sons have died in the shaft, can she be given their remains so she can bury them?" said Vavi. SANCO spokesperson, Mzukisi Jam, dismissed claims that illegal miners who are still underground refuse to resurface. He has lambasted the police dealing with the matter, saying they want to instil fear. "There's a story being sold that illegal miners underground do not want to resurface. It is not true because, together with the community leaders and the community at large, we have been pulling those people out using the rope and we have been making some sort of progress. As much as it was slow progress, we've managed to build relationships with the community, which is what law enforcement was supposed to do instead of instilling fear," Jam said. Yesterday, the police said extortionists were trying to get money out of contractors preparing for the mission to resurface illegal miners from the mine shaft. 

ACCEPT HELP

A resident has urged illegal miners underground to cooperate with the authorities. A resident urged them to accept rescue efforts being afforded to them. "The past couple of days have been deadly because the rope they were sending down that two metres was not hundred percent guaranteed in terms of safety. It got thinner and thinner by the day. People have been risking their lives to assist illegal miners, so now that there's machinery to help bring them up, they better not cause problems for the authorities because they will die down there,' he said.