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SowetanLive reports that deputy police commissioner responsible for policing, Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili, argued in court papers filed in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday that the illegal miners (zama zamas) in Stilfontein who did not want to resurface were not trapped, they just feared being arrested.
He noted that there was an alternative safe exit at a nearby Margeret mine shaft where more than 500 of them had resurfaced without risking their lives. “Those who decided not to come out elected to not to do so, not because of any conduct from the police,” Mosikili argued in reply to the application in relation to the rights of the zama zamas brought by the Society for the Protection of Our Constitution. The respondents in the matter are the ministers of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, police, mineral resources and social development. The matter was postponed to Thursday to allow the applicants to read the respondents' papers and respond. In his papers, Mosikili said the Stilfontein mine shaft was considered to be a crime scene as the zama zamas were heavily armed. “Despite this, police in their operation 'vala umgodi' have never blocked illegal miners from exiting through the Stilfontein mining shaft. But instead, they have prevented explosives, alcohol, generators and illegal firearms from being lowered to these illegal miners,” Mosikili said. Human rights activist, Abderrrahman Regragui, argued in court papers that the illegal miners had been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining. On Saturday, the Pretoria High Court granted an order preventing the police from blocking the shaft.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jeanette Chabalala at SowetanLive
- Lees ook, Hofsaak oor Stilfontein-myners uitgestel, by Maroela Media
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page