Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Wealthy Nation TodayWealthy Nation Today

Latest News

Court orders South Africa police to end standoff with illegal miners

A South African court ordered police to end a standoff with illegal miners and allow emergency workers to gain access to a shaft where hundreds are believed to be holed up.

The High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, said in an interim ruling that all miners underground in the mine in Stilfontein should be allowed to leave and no one should block their exit, according to state broadcaster SABC.

Yasmin Omar, an attorney who helped bring the case to court, told SABC that the ruling was a temporary order and a full hearing will take place next week.

The ruling follows growing concerns about the well-being of the illegal miners – who can spend months below ground – after police cut off food and water supplies.

On Friday, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said in a statement it was investigating the police for restricting the miners’ essential supplies.

At least one decomposed body has been recovered from the mine, police said.

The blockade of the Stilfontein mine is part of an escalating clampdown by the government and police on the activity of illegal miners in the country.

Others say the root of the problem is the high levels of unemployment and poverty in the country, which force local people in precarious and dangerous work.

The South African Police Service welcomed the court order but said that the ruling does not prevent the detention of illegal miners who are in good health.

“All those who resurface will continue to be assessed by emergency medical personnel on site, as has been the case,” they said Saturday in a Facebook post.

“Those that are in a good health will be processed and detained. Those that require further medical care will be taken to hospital under police guard,” they added.

The police force said that operations would continue at all abandoned and disused mining shafts in the Stilfontein area and repeated their request for all illegal miners to resurface.

Three illegal miners resurfaced by Saturday afternoon, according to the police. Also on Saturday, a South African national was arrested in Kanana at a house used as a smelter – a facility used to purify gold – they added.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

You May Also Like

Latest News

Three bodies were recovered on Tuesday morning from a tourist boat which capsized off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, and rescue teams were still searching...

Investing News

Radiopharm Theranostics (ASX:RAD, “Radiopharm” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative oncology radiopharmaceuticals for areas of high unmet medical need,...

Latest News

More than half a million people have been evacuated from their homes as Super Typhoon Man-yi made landfall along the eastern coast of Catanduanes,...

Latest News

Russia has removed a senior commander from his post for making false claims about the progress of the war in parts of eastern Ukraine,...