Two saved from abandoned South Africa gold mine after court orders rescue
Al JazeeraRescue operations involving volunteers under way in Stilfontein amid reports that hundreds are still trapped underground. Two men have been pulled out from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa after a court ordered the police to lift a blockade and allow the rescue of hundreds of workers believed to be involved in “illegal” mining activities. Authorities had earlier blocked the mine’s entrance, cutting the supply of food and water to those inside, in what police described as “a crackdown” on alleged illegal mining. “It is despicable that we have to have this kind of conversation about what to do in the situation involving poor, Black, weakened working-class people,” Mametlwe Sebei, a human rights lawyer, told Al Jazeera. Mzukisi Jam, of the South African National Civic Organisation, told Al Jazeera that while his group welcomed the court order, it was “disappointed” that the government had to be compelled legally to take action to save workers’ lives.
History of this topic
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