Buffelsfontein Gold Mine (BGM), owner of the Stilfontein mine where hundreds of illegal miners have been “trapped” underground for months, has dismissed the government’s assertion that the company is legally bound to conduct the rescue operations.
The mining house rejected the claim in a response to an urgent application filed at the Constitutional Court by a NGO called Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua).
The NGO lodged an urgent application to the top court for an order to conduct immediate rescue operations of the miners, which it argued was being stifled by the state.
Regular food and water supply for the miners have been blocked for more than three months. Since October, more than 1,000 miners have resurfaced from the abandoned gold mine after police started an operation aimed at addressing illegal mining in the North West. Many are said to be stranded underground.
As the case reaches the Constitutional Court in January, the government has put the spotlight on BGM, saying the company did not have a closure certificate and therefore was responsible for the Stilfontein saga.
A closure certificate is issued by the department of mineral resources & energy to ensure companies follow policies and environmental laws after ceasing operations.
The case, if heard, could focus on implications for mining companies when they do not follow policies when closing down mines.
Deputy state attorney Kantoro Isaac Chowe, in an affidavit to the court, argued BGM was “the only party” with a legal obligation to rescue the miners.
“The relevant mine is owned by the sixth respondent [BGM], which operated until 2015. No closure certificate has been issued,” Chowe said in an application letter to chief justice Mandisa Maya in which he requested for an extension until January 15 to file substantive affidavits to the court.
He said the Mine Health and Safety Act provided that BGM, the sixth respondent in the Macau matter, had a legal obligation in respect of the mine concerned.
‘The employer of a mine that is not being worked, but in respect of which a closure certificate in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act has not been issued, must take reasonable steps to continuously prevent injuries, ill-health, loss of life or damage of any kind from occurring at or because of the mine,” Chowe said.
“Under the applicable legal framework, the sixth respondent, as the owner and last operator of the mine, is the only party who might be held responsible for these tasks, depending on how the facts apply to the law,” he said.
Werksmans Attorneys representing BGM disputed the government’s assertions. “At the outset BGM denies that the legal duty in respect of trespassing miners rests on BGM. This is an issue of law which will be fully ventilated in argument at the hearing of this matter. Suffice to state that to date BGM has at all material times complied with its legal obligations. These steps will be detailed more in its answering papers,” the attorneys said in a letter to Maya.
‘Appalling conditions’
The situation underground is said to be dire. Clement Moeletsi who was rescued by community members from the mine in December, said that some miners resorted to eating human flesh to survive.
“Some miners, driven to the brink of starvation, had been forced to resort to the unthinkable, eating the flesh of those who had died in order to survive,” said Moeletsi.
“The horror of hearing this only deepened my pain and sense of loss. I attach confirmatory affidavits indicating that some miners have resorted to consuming human flesh, deposed to by Setsoto Mashiane and Tshohleho Ntsokolo. It is abundantly clear that the situation is unbearable. The deaths of many artisanal miners were the direct result of the appalling conditions.”
Moeletsi said the miners were not remaining underground voluntarily but were rather forced to by lack of equipment and others being too weak to climb a distance of almost 2km using iron rods.
The miners have also been assisted by community members, using a rope, to resurface. Macua representative Sabelo Mnguni warned the court that without its intervention, fatalities at the mine would continue to soar.
Mnguni told the court that rescue operations by community members were disrupted in late December by Village Mine Reef (VMR), a company closely associated with and operating on the premises of Buffelsfontein Mine. He said VMR had been sent by the state to clear the site for possible rescue services to be conducted at an unconfirmed time in 2025.
Mnguni argued that the clearing of the site had hampered community members’ rescue operation and asked the court to intervene.
“The team returned to the site on December 29 2024 to assess the situation and discovered that alterations to the site had created an environment that was unworkable. The rocks that had previously been used to secure the rope system had been moved or buried. The disruption has rendered the roping system unusable, the very system that could have sent food and water underground or allowed the extraction of trapped miners.
“It is submitted that without immediate court intervention the trapped miners face the imminent risk of death. The right to life is at stake. The miners’ lives are hanging in the balance and their right to life and dignity cannot be violated further. The court’s immediate intervention is essential to prevent more deaths and to protect these fundamental rights,” Mnguni said.
The court has not yet set a date to hear the case.
Correction: January 7 2025
The story has been corrected to reflect that Clement Moeletsi is not an illegal miner.
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