Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has laughed off questions about whether the government was considering helping about 4,500 illegal miners underground in Stilfontein, North West, without food and water.
Last week, police reported that the number of illegal miners who had surfaced at Stilfontein between October 18 and November 5 had risen to 1,004. Police and the army have since last month blocked routes used to deliver food to the miners.
A community member who went underground to talk to the miners on Tuesday told police there were “about 4,500″ underground. He said the miners told him they were “too weak to come up” and had asked for food and water.
Brig Sabata Mokgwabone told TimesLIVE the miners were sent water on Tuesday evening.
Briefing the media on Wednesday after the cabinet’s regular meeting, Ntshavheni said it was “not the government’s job to retrieve criminals”.
“You want us to send help to criminals? You want us to send help to criminals, honestly?” she asked, laughing.
“We’re not sending help to criminals. We’re going to smoke them out, they will come out. Criminals are not to be helped, criminals are to be persecuted. We didn’t send them there and they didn’t go down there for the benefit of the republic so we can’t help them.
“Those who want to help them, they must go and take the food down there. They will come out and we’ll arrest them.”
Listen to Ntshavheni’s utterances:
SINESIPHO SCHRIEBER
www.timeslive.co.za
