Human rights lawyer Richard Spoor argues that government indecision and police actions led to the tragic deaths of 78 zama zamas in Stilfontein.

Stilfontein: The end of ubuntu? At the start of hearings concerning the Life Esidimeni tragedy, 144 crosses appeared outside a Johannesburg nursery. The nursery's owner expressed to a local newspaper ...

The crisis at a disused gold mine in Stilfontein, North West, which has dragged on for months, has tested the ability of the government to curb illegal mining through Operation Vala Umgodi.

The rescue of 246 surviving illegal miners from the Stilfontein shaft in less than three days was enabled by a locally ...

Alleged Stilfontein illegal mining ringleader James “Tiger” Neo Tshoaeli’s escape from police custody was likely facilitated before he even reached the surface. Police have been searching ...

STILFONTEIN, South Africa. (AP) — Dozens of men sat and lay together in small caves, some so shallow they couldn’t stand up. The air was wet and stuffy, and wracking coughs echoed in the ...

Last week, rescuers recovered 78 bodies and 246 survivors — many of them weak and emaciated — from the Buffelsfontein mine in Stilfontein, in South Africa’s North West province, where police ...

STILFONTEIN - Operation at the Stilfontein mine in North West are to continue until police are satisfied. Police spokeswoman Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed this on Wednesday as officials ...

More than 240 survivors have been rescued at Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, Stilfontein, since operations began. Many of the miners, labeled "Zama zamas—"hustlers" in the Zulu language—for their ...

Rescuers cross the caution tape near a Metalliferous Mobile Rescue Winder during a rescue operation to retrieve illegal miners from an abandoned gold shaft in Stilfontein on 13 January 2025.

With growing concerns about the rise of illegal mining in the area, Stilfontein is now believed to be the epicentre of the country’s black market for illicit gold. Mineral Resources Minister ...

A total of 1 564 illegal miners have resurfaced at an abandoned mine in Stilfontein in the North West and eight bodies have been retrieved, but authorities cannot confirm how many more miners ...