Why do ‘weak’ zama zamas need alcohol underground? asks SAPS boss
Deputy police commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili says police intercepted alcohol that was being sent underground in Stilfontein, North West, to illegal miners colloquially known as zama zamas.
Initially, it was reported that over 4000 illegal miners were underground. However, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said the number is far-fetched and revised it to an estimated 400.
POLICE INTERCEPT ALCOHOL THAT WAS BEING SENT TO ZAMA ZAMAS IN STILFONTEIN
Mosikili told the SABC that in the first week of operation vala umgodi police officers took their own money to buy water and energy drinks, among other things, to assist the weak zama zamas who were resurfacing.
Mosikili said the illegal miners who resurfaced told the police that some of them were weak and couldn’t manage to come out of the mine shaft.
“The community came and said we are prepared to assist, but what was strange with this assistance is that police intercepted alcohol among the food items. Alcohol, surely, cannot be given to a person you are saying is weak.
“What is happening now is to have a focused and controlled manner of ensuring that those underground are receiving attention and they are retrieved as safely as possible,” she said.
Further, Mosikili emphasised that they don’t want anyone to die on their hands and said it is their wish as the SAPS that every zama zama should come out alive.
COURT ORDERS SHAFT MAY NOT BE BLOCKED
At the weekend, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ordered that the mine shaft in Stilfontein, which forms part of the application brought by society for protection of our constitution, be unblocked and may not be blocked by any person or institution, whether government or private.
The court also ordered that any zama zamas trapped in the mine shaft be permitted to exit and that no non-emergency personnel may enter the mine shaft.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said SAPS static deployment operations continue at all abandoned and disused mining shafts in the Stilfontein area, where a call is once again made to all illegal miners to resurface.
Mathe said the court order does not prevent SAPS from performing its constitutional mandate.
“All those who resurface will continue to be assessed by emergency medical personnel on site, as has been the case. Those that are in good health will be processed and detained. Those who require further medical care will be taken to the hospital under police guard,” she said.
DO YOU THINK ALL THE ILLEGAL MINERS WHO ARE STILL UNDERGROUND IN STILFONTEIN WILL RESURFACE?
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