Court orders South African police to stop besieging gold miners

(CLO) A South African court has ordered police to stop confronting illegal gold miners and allow rescue workers access to a tunnel where hundreds of people are believed to be hiding.

The Pretoria High Court, South Africa, has issued an interim order allowing all miners currently underground at the Stilfontein mine to exit unhindered, national broadcaster SABC reported.

Yasmin Omar, a lawyer involved in the case, told SABC that the ruling was only an interim injunction, and a full hearing would be held next week.

Police and security personnel inspect an illegal gold mine in Stilfontein, South Africa. Photo: AP

With the situation of illegal gold miners being besieged underground becoming increasingly dire, the Pretoria High Court has issued an emergency order allowing all miners to come out.

Police also announced that at least one decomposed body was discovered in the mine.

The blockade of the Stilfontein mine is part of a growing government and police crackdown on the activities of illegal miners in the country.

"We have about 6,000 abandoned mines across the country," David Van Wyk, principal researcher at the Benchmarks Foundation in Johannesburg, told CNN. He also stressed that when large companies and multinationals fail to properly close mines, these areas become easy targets for illegal gold mining.

People believe that the root of the problem is the country's high unemployment and poverty rates, forcing locals to do dangerous jobs to make a living.

Although the South African Police Service agrees with the court's decision, they still have the right to arrest illegal gold miners if they do not have health problems.

Police said these illegal activities will continue in abandoned and disused mines in the Stilfontein area, stressing the need for all illegal gold miners to return to the surface.

According to police, three illegal miners had escaped from the mine by Saturday afternoon. Also on Saturday, a South African national was arrested in Kanana at a house used as a gold smelter.

Ha Trang (according to CNN)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/toa-an-yeu-cau-canh-sat-nam-phi-dung-bao-vay-nhung-nguoi-khai-thac-vang-bi-mac-ket-post321783.html