Over 150 Miners Rescued in South African Illegal Mining Operation

In a spectacular rescue operation about 150 miners were freed from an abandoned gold mine in Mpumalanga province South Africa uncovering a variety of circumstances of human trafficking and bonded labor. Three people were found during the initial search operation which visibly affirmed the volatile environment that exists underground. The rescued miners, the majority of whom are foreigners, said they were forced to look for gold against their wish, forcing a probe into other cases of forced mining in the area.

From this long operation that ended with the last miner coming out sweating and tired yet happy, the world got to see the ugly side of mining in South Africa especially the practice of illegal mining. The National Police Head Fannie Masemola has also admitted that there are ongoing investigations into the two subcategories which include human trafficking and forced labor. The rescued miners have been arrested and police are going round in circles to ensure that they capture all the events that led to miners being trapped in the mine. It has been established that Mpumalanga province is one of the provinces where the above-mentioned unauthorized mining activities take place.

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The search continues in other areas as well: South African officials are loading more equipment to take to a closed mineshaft in Stilfontein near Johannesburg. This shows how rampant illegal mining is in South Africa as it claimed to be losing millions of dollars annually. Further probe will be conducted before the Mpumalanga mine site which has been under operation will be closed down completely to give a ray of hope in eradicating this menace, which is a social and economic problem.