Johannesburg - Packets were removed from a car at the edge of George Harrison Park in Langlaagte, Johannesburg, on Tuesday as a group of zama zamas readied to go down a disused mine.
One of them reached inside a packet and pulled out blue overalls, a headlamp and a pair of boots.
About 15 zama zamas began to change into their work clothes before the trek to try to retrieve the bodies of two of their fellow miners believed to be stuck underground.
The two men have been identified as 24-year-old Sibangani Tsikwa and 31-year-old Njabulo Sibanda, both of Zimbabwe.
The body of a third miner Mine Rescue Services brought up to the surface early on Tuesday morning has been identified as 31-year-old Willard Nyoni.
At the scene in the afternoon, Zimbabwe Community in South Africa chairman Ngqabutho Mabhena said it was believed that Tsikwa died in the mine last week.
“Mr Sibanda and Mr Nyoni went with a group of volunteers to retrieve Mr Tsikwa’s body from the mine on Friday.
“By 9pm on Friday night, eight of the volunteers emerged, with another three coming out on Saturday. But because of the smoke, Mr Sibanda and Mr Nyoni were unable to get out in time,” he said as a relative of Sibanda began to sob.
Mabhena said the bodies were believed to be on the other side of a 30cm hole that Mine Rescue Services couldn’t access.
“We are appealing to the Department of Mineral Resources to bring in experts and drill a bigger hole so that we can bring out the two bodies. In our culture, someone who is dead must be buried, and the families need closure,” he added.
Tsikwa’s emotional brother Daroh said: “Dead or alive, I will make the sacrifice to go down and get my brother. I have a knee problem but I will go. He’s my only brother, we have no choice. He has a son, and for my mother and father, we need to say goodbye.”
Ethel Musonza, a family friend of one of the trapped miners, said a zama zama who emerged from the mine on Monday had told her the bodies were lying in a small tunnel.
“The one body was lying down like it was sleeping and the other looked like it was standing up, its head resting on a rock.
“All we’re asking the rescue teams is to let us go down and get the bodies,” she said.
As the afternoon wore on, zama zamas dressed in their gear sneaked away and went down through an entrance inaccessible to the media.
Several other miners asked the media to move away from the main entrance of the mine in case their fellow zama zamas resurfaced with the bodies.
“We don’t want them to be identified because they can be arrested,” a leader said.
He said the bodies were about 2km towards the Joburg CBD. “It’s far, there’s also a river and snakes. It’s dangerous, but we will go.”
During the day, two miners covered in dirt and grime emerged after working underground for two weeks. They said they worked in a different part of the mine.
“We heard a lot of noise and saw a lot of people. We were too scared to surface because we didn’t know what was happening,” one of them said.
They were rushed away by friends for fear of arrest.
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