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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
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Court orders South Africa police to end standoff with illegal miners
By Billy Stockwell, CNN
Updated:
6:00 AM EST, Sun November 17, 2024
Source: CNN
A South African court ordered police to end a standoff with illegal
miners and allow emergency workers to gain access to a shaft where
hundreds are believed to be holed up.
The High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, said in an interim ruling
that all miners underground in the mine in Stilfontein should be
allowed to leave and no one should block their exit, according to state
broadcaster .
Yasmin Omar, an attorney who helped bring the case to court, told SABC
that the ruling was a temporary order and a full hearing will take
place next week.
The ruling follows growing concerns about the well-being of the illegal
miners – who can spend months below ground – after police cut off
food and water supplies.
On Friday, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said in a
it was investigating the police for restricting the miners’ essential
supplies.
At least one decomposed body has been recovered from the mine, police
said.
The blockade of the Stilfontein mine is part of an by the government
and police on the activity of illegal miners in the country.
“We’ve got about 6,000 abandoned mines in the country,” David Van
Wyk, a lead researcher at Johannesburg-based Benchmarks Foundation,
told CNN, adding that when large-scale companies and multinational
corporations fail to properly close mines, they are left vulnerable to
illegal mining.
Others say the root of the problem is the high levels of unemployment
and poverty in the country, which force local people in precarious and
dangerous work.
The South African Police Service welcomed the court order but said that
the ruling does not prevent the detention of illegal miners who are in
good health.
“All those who resurface will continue to be assessed by emergency
medical personnel on site, as has been the case,” they said Saturday
in a Facebook post.
“Those that are in a good health will be processed and detained.
Those that require further medical care will be taken to hospital under
police guard,” they added.
The police force said that operations would continue at all abandoned
and disused mining shafts in the Stilfontein area and repeated their
request for all illegal miners to resurface.
Three illegal miners resurfaced by Saturday afternoon, according to the
police. Also on Saturday, a South African national was arrested in
Kanana at a house used as a smelter – a facility used to purify gold
– they added.
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