-
South Africa: Police Launch Manhunt for Stilfontein Underground Kingpin
SAPS, 20 January 2025
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Patrick Asaneng has ordered maximum resources to be mobilised in finding an alleged kingpin who resurfaced from… Read more »
-
South Africa: Informal Mining in South Africa Is Here to Stay. Police Brutality Won't End It - Here's What Will
The Conversation Africa, 22 January 2025
In mid-January 2024 over 1,000 hunger-weakened miners exited two abandoned mine shafts in Stilfontein, near Johannesburg in South Africa. They had been starved out by the police in… Read more »
-
South Africa: Death of Miners in South Africa a Government Failure
HRW, 22 January 2025
Rights groups are criticizing South Africa's government for failing to prevent what they call a "massacre" at the Buffelsfontein mine, after security officials cut off food, water,… Read more »
-
South Africa: Manhunt for Stilfontein Underground 'Kingpin' After Escaping Police Custody
SAnews.gov.za, 20 January 2025
North West Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Patrick Asaneng, has ordered maximum resources to be mobilised in finding an alleged Stilfontein mining kingpin. Read more »
-
South Africa: Stilfontein Body Count Mounts As 51 Corpses Hauled From Mine, 106 Rescued
Daily Maverick, 14 January 2025
As day two of the 10-to-16-day operation to rescue illegal miners trapped underground at the Buffelsfontein gold mine just outside Stilfontein came to a close on Tuesday evening,… Read more »
South Africa Police Launch Manhunt for Illegal Mining 'Kingpin'
Police are searching for an alleged "kingpin" of illegal mining after he escaped from custody following the rescue of 78 bodies from an illicit mine.
Lesotho national James Neo Tshoaeli, known as Tiger, has been accused by other illegal miners of being a ringleader responsible for assaults, tortures, and deaths underground, as well as keeping food from others. The police say that officials helped Tshoaeli escape after he was recovered from the mine in Stilfontein. His records indicate he was never arrested or hospitalized for medical treatment like other illegal miners.
The police had blockaded the mine for months before rescuing more than 240 illegal miners alive.In an attempt to force them out, officers cut off their food and water supplies.
InFocus
-
The General Industries Workers Union has condemned what it called "the dehumanisation and criminalisation" of poor miners by the South African authorities. Rescuers this week Read more »
-
Hundreds of illegal miners are yet to come to the surface, more than a week after a rescue team was dispatched to the area. The local government has implemented a new pl Read more »
-
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature's Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has said that it will be writing to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi Read more »
Illicit mining has emerged as a significant threat to our nation's security, economy, and environment.
