The police surrounded the mine in November and cut off the supply of food and water in an attempt to force the miners to climb out and be detained. About 1,500 of them did so before reports of dozens of bodies underground prompted the authorities to launch a rescue operation.
Among those pulled out was Tshoaeli, who, according to the police, was subsequently helped to escape by local officials, the BBC reports.
Other rescued miners accuse Tshoaeli of being responsible for “deaths, assaults and torture” underground, according to a Monday police statement on the case. Accordingly, Tshoaeli collected all the food for himself and did not share it with the miners. A large number of miners looked weak and malnourished after the rescue.
The rescue of miners from a South African mine ends after 78 bodies have been pulled out. The unions are talking about a massacre
The world
Police Commissioner Patrick Asaneng warned that “heads will fall” when the police reveal who exactly helped Tshoaeli escape. Police spokeswoman Athlenda Matheová said on television that the police were “disappointed” and “humiliated” by the situation. The police are said to be the first to investigate whether Tshoaeli’s accomplice comes from their ranks.
Authorities are also still trying to identify the 78 dead, which is complicated by the fact that they are mostly illegal migrants from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and that several bodies are already in an advanced stage of decomposition.
Due to the whole case, the South African authorities are facing accusations from the trade unions of participation in the massacre. The police defend that the control over the flow of supplies is actually held by similar mining bosses, such as Tshoaeli, who also prevent them from escaping to the surface.
Horror in a closed mine. Illegal miners in South Africa are underground for the second month, there are over a hundred dead
The world
