SOUTH African police say they will continue to arrest any illegal miners who emerge from a disused gold mine where hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are in hiding.
This follows a court order which said the mine-shaft in Stilfontein, around 90 miles (145km) south-west of Johannesburg, should not be blocked.
Emergency services have been at the site, for several days. Police have been preventing food and water entering the mine to, as one government minister put it, “smoke them out”.
The miners – who have been underground for a month – have so far refused to exit the mine over fears of being arrested. Among them are undocumented migrants who also fear deportation.
Some South Africans have heavily criticised the government’s hardline policy and, in recent days, the police have been allowing volunteers to go down to see the miners and some have been taking small amounts of food and water.
On Saturday, a court in Pretoria ordered that the mine “shall be unblocked and may not be blocked by any person or institution whether government or private”.
It also said that any person in the mine should be allowed to exit, and that “no non-emergency personnel may enter the mine shaft”.
Three of the miners surfaced on Saturday, one of whom was taken to hospital for medical treatment. The two others were arrested.
Some reports suggest the miners had resorted to eating vinegar and toothpaste to survive. Volunteers said they pulled a body from the mine on Thursday.
Police have called in experts to assess the integrity of the mine shafts, to inform a decision as to whether they would conduct a forced evacuation, according to the AFP news agency.
