MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
An operation is underway to rescue hundreds of illegal miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine shaft in South Africa. This started off as a standoff between South African police and illegal miners. Months later, with many miners dead of starvation, it has turned into a desperate rescue mission. Kate Bartlett reports from the mining town of Stilfontein. And a warning, her story mentions cannibalism and details of starvation.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Yelling in non-English language).
KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: People here are angry.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Yelling in non-English language).
BARTLETT: Their small town of Stilfontein in North West province, South Africa, has become the site of a human tragedy that could have been prevented.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY GRINDING)
BARTLETT: At the edge of the abandoned gold mine, a cage is slowly being lowered down to rescue scores of illegal miners known here as zama zamas, who have been languishing underground for months.
MUZKISI JAM: We are not going to celebrate and give accolades to the government and say, finally, they came. The only thing that we're appreciating is the fact that at least the families will be given an opportunity to bury their loved ones.
BARTLETT: Muzkisi Jam is a civil society leader who's been urging the government to help the illegal miners for months now, but the government repeatedly refused, saying the zama zamas were dangerous criminals who needed to be smoked out. Eventually, after a court order, a rescue operation began this week. Now, they are bringing up the survivors and the bodies, of which there were over 50 on Tuesday alone.
ZINZI TOM: It's not a good moment at all. He's been underground since July last year.
BARTLETT: Zinzi Tom has been waiting at the rescue site to see if her brother will be brought up alive.
TOM: One thing that I told myself is that I pray to God to give me strength. I have to make sure that he's OK and pray to God.
BARTLETT: South Africa was once the world's biggest gold producer, but many mines have been shut down and abandoned. The road to Stilfontein, a small town over 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg, is dotted with massive mine dumps rising out of the countryside like something from a sci-fi film. Local Samuel Sehebeng is having a drink at the nearby township tavern. He was a casualty of mine layoffs.
SAMUEL SEHEBENG: I used to work in the mining industry. I lost my job through retrenchment. It was 2017. Thereafter, I've been unemployed since then.
BARTLETT: Zama zama is Zulu for one who takes a chance, and take a chance they certainly do. They eke out a living spending weeks deep underground in dangerous conditions searching for gold. Many are desperately impoverished people toiling for heavily armed criminal syndicates. They are from South Africa, as well as neighboring countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
BARTLETT: As the day wore on, a group of zama zamas were brought up to the surface. One collapses, unable to walk. They look like skeletons - dust-covered and blinking at the harsh sunlight - and are led away to waiting ambulances.
UNIDENTIFIED MINER: People are dying here. Please help. Please, please, please help us.
BARTLETT: Earlier in the week, one of the groups released this camera footage showing multiple corpses down below, emaciated miners and a plaintive plea for help from one unknown miner. Some have become so desperate, they have resorted to the unthinkable, according to civil society leader Muzkisi Jam.
JAM: The situation down there is bad to an extent that they have started eating human flesh.
BARTLETT: For now, rescue workers can only hope to recover as many alive as possible. But with the promise of gold, it's unlikely South Africa's zama zamas will stop risking their lives underground anytime soon.
For NPR News, I'm Kate Bartlett in Stilfontein, South Africa.
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