New court bid to force authorities to help illegal miners

Human rights organisation Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) yesterday filed an urgent application with the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) to force the state to rescue the illegal miners it says are trapped in the Buffelsfontein mine in Stilfontein, North West.

- Gareth Cotterell

It also wants resources, such as food, water and medicine, to be sent down the abandoned mineshaft.

Macua approached the ConCourt after the High Court in Pretoria on 20 December dismissed its attempt to force the government to help the illegal miners.

Yesterday, the organisation said hundreds of the illegal miners still underground "face imminent death and starvation".

"Recent reports from underground indicate that more people have died in the intervening periods between our last court appeal and our application to the Constitutional Court," it said.