Community members are searched by South African police before entering the mine shaft to negotiate with unlicensed miners underground in Stilfontein, in South Africa's North West province, Nov. 13, 2024. EMMANUEL CROSET/AFP/Getty

More than 4,000 miners locked in a standoff with South African authorities over illegal mining were believed to be sick and increasingly weak inside an abandoned mine shaft Thursday. South African police confirm the partly decomposed body of one miner had been brought to the surface from inside the Stilfontein mine in the country's North West province Thursday morning.

Five of the unlicensed miners were pulled out alive Wednesday, all of them appearing frail and weak after apparently being underground for several months.

Illegal miners — known locally as Zama Zama — are often men from neighboring countries who come to South Africa without the paperwork necessary to find legal work. Many say they have no choice but to go underground and work in illegal mines to make a living.

South Africa's abandoned gold mines are often targeted by illegal miners looking for gold and other minerals left behind by the previous commercial operations.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a senior government official who holds the role of Minister in the Presidency, told journalists on Wednesday that authorities would not help the Zama Zamas in the Stilfontein mine, but would instead "smoke them out."

"We will not send help to criminals. We are not sending help. We will smoke them out. They are not to be helped but persecuted. We didn't send them there and they didn't go down there for the good intentions of the country, so we cannot help them," she said. "When they come out, we will arrest them."

South African police and military forces leading the operation to detain the illegal miners and shut down the operation — dubbed Vala Umgodi (Close the Hole) — decided this week to block all entrances to the mine to prevent any more food being carried underground. More than 1,000 men have come to the surface and been arrested since the operation began several weeks ago.

Those who've resurfaced have said they were below ground for several months.

David Van Wyk, a mining analyst and researcher at the Bench-Marks Foundation, said Thursday on a local radio show that he believed Ntshavheni "should read the constitution, and the right to life is sacrosanct, regardless of who you are."

"People have a right to a fair trial, and you can't say they are criminal without a fair trial," said Van Wyk.

Volunteers who have helped bring some of the weakened miners to the surface have also carried up letters up from those still underground. Many have said in the letters that they simply don't have the strength to come up.

Some of the volunteers have reported a strong smell of rotting flesh underground.

Local community members have been protesting outside the mine, carrying placards reading: "Free our Brothers," and shouting that family members have been trapped underground for months.

Just outside the mine's entrance, several woman have been cooking food in large pots to offer to any miners who do come to the surface.

"I am working here, but I am not bothering any human," said one of the Zama Zama, who wouldn't give his name but said he was in the mine for several months. "I am just feeding my family."


Relatives of miners and community members wait near an opening to a mine shaft in Stilfontein, in South Africa's North West province, Nov. 13, 2024. EMMANUEL CROSET/AFP/Getty

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