A rescue operation is underway to bring up the miners who are still alive
after a two-month standoff in South Africa between police and illegal
miners. They'll recover the bodies of those who died.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

An operation is underway to rescue hundreds of illegal miners trapped in
an abandoned gold mine shaft in South Africa. This started off as a
standoff between South African police and illegal miners. Months later,
with many miners dead of starvation, it has turned into a desperate rescue
mission. Kate Bartlett reports from the mining town of Stilfontein. And a
warning, her story mentions cannibalism and details of starvation.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Yelling in non-English language).

KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: People here are angry.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Yelling in non-English language).

BARTLETT: Their small town of Stilfontein in North West province, South
Africa, has become the site of a human tragedy that could have been
prevented.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY GRINDING)

BARTLETT: At the edge of the abandoned gold mine, a cage is slowly being
lowered down to rescue scores of illegal miners known here as zama zamas,
who have been languishing underground for months.

MUZKISI JAM: We are not going to celebrate and give accolades to the
government and say, finally, they came. The only thing that we're
appreciating is the fact that at least the families will be given an
opportunity to bury their loved ones.

BARTLETT: Muzkisi Jam is a civil society leader who's been urging the
government to help the illegal miners for months now, but the government
repeatedly refused, saying the zama zamas were dangerous criminals who
needed to be smoked out. Eventually, after a court order, a rescue
operation began this week. Now, they are bringing up the survivors and the
bodies, of which there were over 50 on Tuesday alone.

ZINZI TOM: It's not a good moment at all. He's been underground since July
last year.

BARTLETT: Zinzi Tom has been waiting at the rescue site to see if her
brother will be brought up alive.

TOM: One thing that I told myself is that I pray to God to give me
strength. I have to make sure that he's OK and pray to God.

BARTLETT: South Africa was once the world's biggest gold producer, but
many mines have been shut down and abandoned. The road to Stilfontein, a
small town over 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg, is dotted with
massive mine dumps rising out of the countryside like something from a
sci-fi film. Local Samuel Sehebeng is having a drink at the nearby
township tavern. He was a casualty of mine layoffs.

SAMUEL SEHEBENG: I used to work in the mining industry. I lost my job
through retrenchment. It was 2017. Thereafter, I've been unemployed since
then.

BARTLETT: Zama zama is Zulu for one who takes a chance, and take a chance
they certainly do. They eke out a living spending weeks deep underground
in dangerous conditions searching for gold. Many are desperately
impoverished people toiling for heavily armed criminal syndicates. They
are from South Africa, as well as neighboring countries like Mozambique,
Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

BARTLETT: As the day wore on, a group of zama zamas were brought up to the
surface. One collapses, unable to walk. They look like skeletons - dust-
covered and blinking at the harsh sunlight - and are led away to waiting
ambulances.

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: People are dying here. Please help. Please, please,
please help us.

BARTLETT: Earlier in the week, one of the groups released this camera
footage showing multiple corpses down below, emaciated miners and a
plaintive plea for help from one unknown miner. Some have become so
desperate, they have resorted to the unthinkable, according to civil
society leader Muzkisi Jam.

JAM: The situation down there is bad to an extent that they have started
eating human flesh.

BARTLETT: For now, rescue workers can only hope to recover as many alive
as possible. But with the promise of gold, it's unlikely South Africa's
zama zamas will stop risking their lives underground anytime soon.

For NPR News, I'm Kate Bartlett in Stilfontein, South Africa.

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/14/nx-s1-5259652/the-desperate-operation-to-
rescue-illegal-miners-trapped-in-a-shaft-in-south-africa