An estimated 4,000 illegal gold miners are hiding underground in South Africa after the government cut off food and water in an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them.The miners have been in a mineshaft in Stilfontein, in the North West province, for about a month.They have refused to cooperate with authorities as some are undocumented - coming from neighbouring countries like Lesotho and Mozambique - and fear being deported.Illegal miners are called "zama zama" ("take a chance" in Zulu) and operate in abandoned mines in the mineral-rich country.
Illegal mining costs the South African government hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales each year.Many South African mines have closed down in recent years and workers have been sacked.To survive, the miners and undocumented migrants go beneath the surface to escape poverty and dig up gold to sell it on the black market.Some spend months underground - there is even a small economy of people selling food, cigarettes and cooked meals to the miners.Local residents have pleaded with the authorities to assist the miners, but they have refused."We are going to smoke them out.
They will come out.
We are not sending help to criminals.