Deaths: Whose to Blame?

Govt and police are directly responsible for this tragedy, says legal expert.

- Brian Sokutu

As rescuers continued to pull survivors and body bags of illegal miners from an abandoned Stilfontein shaft, with the death toll having reached 78, a legal expert yesterday blamed government for being indecisive in handling the zama zamas.

While conceding that the illegal mining operation in Stilfontein and in other parts of the country was driven by crime syndicates buying gold at a discount and shipping it to markets in other countries, human rights lawyer Richard Spoor blamed government for the deaths of the zama zamas.

Spoor said there has been mixed messages from government ministers on how to deal with the Stilfontein crisis.

"Police Minister Senzo Mchunu spoke about the rescue last November, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the miners should be smoked out and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe was equally hostile."