NW Health Dept plans to conclude burials of illegal miners who died in Stilfontein mine
The bodies of almost 90 illegal miners were pulled from an abandoned shaft earlier in 2025 when police intensified an operation to clamp down on illegal mining at the old Buffelsfontein gold mine in the area.
Fourteen illegal miners resurfaced from shaft 10 in Stilfontein on 25 November 2024. Picture: EWN/Katlego Jiyane
JOHANNESBURG - The North West Department of Health said it plans to conclude in June the paupers’ burials of illegal miners who died at a decommissioned gold mine in Stilfontein.
The bodies of almost 90 illegal miners were pulled from an abandoned shaft earlier in 2025 when police intensified an operation to clamp down on illegal mining at the old Buffelsfontein gold mine in the area.
Close to 2,000 illegal miners were arrested during the operation.
With only 25 bodies identified and released to families from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mozambique, the mass burial of unclaimed bodies of the illegal miners began a week ago.
Thirty people were buried as unclaimed persons, but DNA was extracted in case families come forward at a later stage looking for their loved ones.
Health officials have confirmed that the remaining 23 bodies will be buried by the end of June or in early July.
Mining Affected Communities United in Action and other activists held a memorial for the illegal miners who died at Shaft 10 and 11 in Stilfontein.
“We’re here to reaffirm the humanity of those who died at Stilfontein. These miners were dehumanised. These miners were criminalised,” said attorney at Lawyers for Human Rights, Mametlwe Sebei.
“Nobody on the side of government and mining capital saw through their act of survival, past the fact that their actions were outside of the framework of the law.”
Since the operation, there have been renewed calls for government to formalise artisanal mining.