Govt ‘won’t help’ trapped Stilfontein illegal miners
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the state will not be sending any help to retrieve the trapped illegal miners in Stilfontein in the North West.
Community members have been volunteering to go underground in an attempt to rescue what is believed to be up to 4,000 people.
The illegal miners have been stuck underground in an abandoned mining shaft for a week now.
READ: Ntshavheni: Cabinet have begun preparations for elections
Ntshavheni referred to them as criminals during a post-cabinet briefing on Wednesday, saying the government didn't send them down there.
"We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted. We did not send them there, and they did not go down there for the benefit of the republic."
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