Shaft 11 at the Stilfontein mine in the North West.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
By Julia Eccles
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, or as some still refer to him, The Butcher of Marikana, is carving out his legacy during his second and likely last term. He could be the president who signed off on the historic ICJ case to hold Israel accountable for its genocide against the Palestinian people, or he could be the harbinger of a second Marikana, more dire and sinister than the first.
On 13 November 2024, when asked if the state would send aid to the trapped mineworkers, the Presidency’s Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni uttered the following words. “We're not sending help to criminals. We're going to smoke them out… Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted.”
These words had an eerily familiar ring to them, as they echoed former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s words on 9 October 2023: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," Gallant said. "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly," he added.
Operation Vala Umgodi, or “plug the hole”, was launched early in 2024, supposedly to combat so-called illegal mining, using coercion methods such as denying food and water to people underground to force them out. Up to 4,000 people are trapped underground in Shaft 11 of Buffelsfontein Gold Mine in Stilfontein. By saying that they want to “smoke them out”, the government is admitting that it potentially wants to harm them, which is baffling to hear them admit.
Shaft 11 is a staggering 2 km deep, with miners thought to be at 1.6 km underground. It has no staircase. Ordinarily, a team on the ground would bring people to the surface and send down supplies, but police chased them away under Vala Umgodi. No food, water or medicine entered the shaft for several weeks before decisive intervention from the community and human rights groups.
It may take some time to scroll past the to-scale image of the mineshaft but it takes three to four hours of labour to rescue just one trapped person.
It may take some time to scroll past the to-scale image of the mineshaft but it takes three to four hours of labour to rescue just one trapped person.
Image: Julia Eccles / Supplied
While police continue to state that miners in Shaft 11 can exit freely via Margaret Shaft, organisations MACUA (Mining Communities United in Action) and WAMUA (Women Affected by Mining United in Action) have indicated otherwise. Margaret Shaft is at least 20 km from Shaft 11 and the journey takes at least seven days – four days in treacherous underground tunnels, and an additional three days to climb up the slippery and aged staircase. It is impossible for the emaciated trapped miners to even consider this journey. A handful of people who surfaced at Margaret Shaft two weeks ago had managed to leave while still in relatively good health.
An urgent application was brought by MACUA to allow in food, water and medicine, which was won on 3 December 2024, but eight dead bodies have already surfaced, accompanied by letters begging to be helped out. The court case to determine whether or not miners are able to exit has been postponed until February 2025.
This dangerous, inhumane operation was signed off on every level of government, including the Presidency, but how this can be considered lawful is a mystery. Firstly, none of the people underground have been formally charged with any crime, but if they were, how could the state simply put thousands of people’s lives at risk simply to make arrests? The Operation involves effectively trapping people by literally blocking the entrance to mines, explicitly depriving them of food and other supplies necessary to sustain life. This violates sections of South Africa’s constitution as well as international laws and treaties to which South Africa is a party, such as UNCAT, the ACHPR and ICCPR. Perhaps the state does not care about the sanctity of human life in this instance.
Today, Apartheid is alive and well in the mining sector. An entire swath of society, 100% of them black and living in poverty, is subjected to conditions of poverty, desperation and hopelessness, incentivising them to do a form of work that no other person would ever consider because of the health and safety risks involved. This was in many ways the foundational impetus behind the formation of Apartheid, particularly with regard to the mining industry. White, capitalist mine bosses created a system that would guarantee maximal profits from the extraction of minerals using the virtual slave labour of black people.
Little has changed in 2024. Today, the same system continues but is owned and managed by a slightly more diverse billionaire class under a more diverse government. However, the role of the Untermensch that carries out the back-breaking labour is fulfilled by largely the same demographic: young, working-class black men. Their lives are cheaper than the precious minerals they chip out of the earth, which find their way out of the country through illicit financial flows. Meanwhile, large companies enjoy virtual impunity from their obligations under NEMA (National Environmental Minerals Act) and MPRDA (Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act), which is why the country is littered with deserted open mine shafts in the first place. Who are the real criminals in this situation?
The Untermensch receive so little regard for their humanity that they are publicly ridiculed for asking for tobacco, snuff (moist tobacco), umqombothi (African beer), imphepho (African herbs) and candles to summon the ancestors for strength and allow the spirits of the departed to leave in peace. The psychological and spiritual suffering of the miners must be unfathomable as they beg for assistance for the living and the dead underground, yet their humanity continues to be ignored. A body that surfaced on 3 December had a letter attached to it that stated:
Dear Sir/Madam. We an apologise to tell u about people who are dying in the mine. We have 1 person who is dead because of shortage of food while some are lying down, they have no response. Please we need help. Pls take us out of this mine because situation inside this mine is difficult. We will be thankful by helping us.
The message was repeated in isiSotho and again in a mix of isiZulu and isiXhosa for good measure. The use of mixed language denotes intermingling and a lengthy period spent away from people who speak one’s local dialect or vernacular.
A body that surfaced on 3 December had this letter attached to it.
Image: Supplied
On December 3, 2024, the High Court ruled that humanitarian aid must immediately be allowed in at Shaft 11. So far, the assistance has been insufficient due to a lack of resources among the community, activists and NGOs supporting. The communication from inside has indicated that the miners only eat a small portion of e-Pap once a day. Under the circumstances, bodies will likely continue to pile up.
Hiring machinery to extract the miners will cost millions, which means, only the state can act. The Provincial MEC has committed to extracting the victims from underground but has done nothing in over three weeks and offered no report or further explanation.
It is now up to all of us to exert maximum pressure on the state using all available means, local and international. All members of the public should raise awareness and set the record straight. NGOs and aid organisations must immediately get involved. All of us must speak with one voice to demand that the state bring the miners at Shaft 11 to the surface immediately.
The legacy of South Africa’s President is quickly sinking to an all-time low – 1.6 km underground to be specific. Ramaphosa must act immediately to avoid the slow massacre of thousands under the watchful eye of the world.
* Julia Eccles is a human rights activist, a member of Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) and a volunteer in the community rescue effort at Stilfontein.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
Related Topics: