South African Police Operation Leads to Criticism Following Deaths of 78 Illegal Miners

January 15, 2025 TruthUSA

The South African Federation of Trade Unions described the deaths as ‘one of the most horrific displays of state wilful negligence in recent history.’

The bodies of 78 men have been recovered from a gold mine in South Africa, where police have been carrying out an operation against illegal mining.

A stand-off between police and illegal miners more than a mile underground at Stilfontein—93 miles southwest of Johannesburg—began in August 2024, and on Monday, the police launched an operation to bring out those below ground.

More than 1,100 people, many of them illegal immigrants, have been arrested since August 2024 for illegal mining.

In the past few days, it has emerged that there have been deaths underground, with activists blaming the police for cutting off food and water supplies.

In a post on social media platform X, Jessica Lawrence from Lawyers for Human Rights wrote, “We cannot become a society where we allow police officers to facilitate the death or the starvation and dehydration of people, regardless of whatever activities they are doing underground.”

The police had blocked food and water supplies since August 2024, but a court ruling in December 2024 said volunteers could send down essential aid for those underground.

On Monday, the authorities began to use a metal cage to recover men and dead bodies from the shaft, in an operation expected to last several days. Nine bodies were brought out on Monday, 51 on Tuesday, and another 18 on Wednesday.

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