News24 reports that the SA Police Service (SAPS) is consulting its legal team over claims by the General Industries Workers Union of SA (GIWUSA) that the police blasted a shaft in Stilfontein during an illegal mining rescue operation last week.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Althenda Mathe, the statement by GIWUSA is "misinformation" and the union could be subject to legal action, as it's an offence under the Explosives Act to provide false information on explosions. She said that no blast had taken place and that this was confirmed during a site inspection on Friday. In a statement, GIWUSA claimed police had bombed Shaft 10 at Stilfontein on Thursday. It said the shaft contained miners who were either dead, injured or too weak to get to Shaft 11 to be rescued. On Thursday, the government announced that everyone who was trapped underground – both alive and dead – had been removed from Shaft 11. Shaft 10 is situated about 2km from Shaft 11. "GIWUSA and other organisations involved in advocating for the rescue had demanded that sniffer dogs and rescue personnel be sent down to look for other bodies and survivors, but instead, the rescue was declared complete, and suddenly Shaft 10 was bombed," stated GIWUSA president Mametlwe Sebei. He accused the police of a "blatant act of cover-up by the state" because they "did not want the Stilfontein body count to rise above 78". GIWUSA also claimed that police had arrested Mzwandile Mkwayi, one of the volunteers, "who spent three days going down in the lift into Shaft 10 and bringing out deceased miners and survivors". Mkwayi was handed a 15-year sentence for murder in 2013. Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Mkwayi was not arrested or detained but was taken to the Klerksdorp Community Corrections Office for administrative purposes. Nxumalo said Mkwayi had been given a formal warning for violating his parole conditions, namely leaving his designated jurisdiction without notification or approval from his monitoring officials and engaging with the media without prior authorisation.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24 (subscription or trial registration required)
- Read too, Police slam ‘misinformation’ regarding their Stilfontein operations, at The Citizen
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