Mine rescue Families cling to hope as bodies are brought to the surface

Almost three days into a South African government operation that has pulled 78 bodies and 218 miners out of an illegal gold mine and Zinzi Tom still does not have news of her brother, Ayanda.

- Rachel Savage

"I'm not coping, but I need to be strong. I need to put my feelings aside, I will deal with them after," says Tom, a 31-year-old unemployed mother, who has become a de facto community leader for relatives of the trapped miners. "I can't lose hope. It's something that I just can't do."

Police launched Operation Vala Umgodi (Plug the Hole) in late 2023 to try to stamp out illegal mining across South Africa's north-eastern mining belt. Officers blocked supplies of food, water and medicine from workers underground in an attempt to force them to the surface so they could be arrested. But after miners started dying, authorities were forced to launch a rescue operation.

Analysts estimate there are 30,000 illegal miners, known as zama zamas, producing 10% of the country's gold.