One of the two volunteers who took part in the rescue operation in Stilfontein mine and helped retrieve dead bodies says he doesn?t want counselling, he wants to be cleansed because he is a traditional man. Mandla Charles said the exposure to all those dead bodies in pieces will leave a dire impact on his mental health for years to come.

IT?LL TAKE TIME 

Charles highlighted the horrific conditions they came across whilst he and another volunteer went down the shaft to check if there were still illegal miners down there.

"We saw bodies of people in pieces. Some were not complete. There were body parts such as arms. We saw heads lying there without their bodies," Charles said in an interview with eNCA.

He added, "The things we saw down there, even after days, months or even years, would impact someone's mental health. The retrieval of body parts scattered throughout the mine poses a significant challenge due to the vast distance and time required but it had to be done."

CLEANSE US

Charles expressed that he is not against counselling but said he doubts its effectiveness.Charles expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of counselling after the trauma they experienced. "Counselling doesn't help. We are traditional people. We need to cleanse. Counselling is a Western tradition. Culturally we need to cleanse our bodies after touching dead bodies down there," he said. The Stilfontein mine tragedy has raised concerns about the treatment of illegal miners and the desperate measures they resort to for survival. Police confirmed that 1,907 illegal miners have surfaced since the launch of their operation in August last year.