A high court in Pretoria has issued an interim ruling allowing charities to provide life-saving aid to illegal miners, also known as zama zamas, who have been holed up underground at Stilfontein mine in the North West province in South Africa, media reported.
"Within two hours of the court order being handed down, allow community members, charitable organizations, and interested parties to in an orderly manner provide humanitarian aid including water, food, and medication to the artisanal miners trapped underground at shafts 10 and 11 of the Stilfontein gold mine," the court ruled on Sunday.
Thembile Botman, the leader of the community-based organization Mining Affected Communities United in Action, said the aid had not been sent underground as of Monday while appeals for aid were ongoing.
Some 4,000 illegal miners were reported to have been trapped in an abandoned mine shaft in mid-November. About a hundred zama zamas made it onto the surface within days and were detained. Locals were prohibited from bringing them food or water by the authorities who said they planned to "smoke them out." The police said they would not conduct a rescue operation for unlicensed miners. It is unknown how many people remain underground to avoid arrest.