South Africa police’s force against illegal gold miners continue; standoff escalates

The South African police intensified efforts to force hundreds of illegal gold miners holed up in underground shafts to the surface so they can be arrested.

In a statement, the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said  “The Stilfontein mine is a crime scene where the offence of illegal mining is being committed. It is standard police practice everywhere to secure a crime scene and to block off escape routes that enable criminals to evade arrest.”

The problem of illegal mining isn’t unique to Stilfontein — there are about 6,000 abandoned mines strewn across the country and informal miners have accessed a number of them. South Africa and its mining industry lose about 70 billion rand ($3.9 billion) annually to those who illegally mine gold.