Johannesburg - Relatives of an illegal miner rescued from the disused mine at George Harrison Park in Langlaagte, Joburg, cheered and ululated as he was rushed to an ambulance on a stretcher on Monday night.
The 42-year-old man was trapped on Friday while attempting to rescue his colleagues who were trapped on Wednesday, according to the police. The man was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
However, the rescue was overshadowed by news late on Monday night that another miner had been found dead. The saved miner had told the rescue team that he had seen a dead body close to where emergency workers found him, but it wasn't immediately clear whether this was the body found on Monday night.
Earlier in the evening, other people who had been waiting for their loved ones panicked when they didn't see their family members. Shortly after the ambulance left to take the rescued miner to hospital, they started putting pressure on the rescue staff to find their family members.
“We have been waiting the whole day. I need to go home but I cannot, before I know where my husband is. I am hoping that I will see him before I go to sleep,” said a Zimbabwean woman who asked not to be identified.
Throughout the day, families of the trapped miners debated whether to start their own rescue mission. Some urged the police to leave the scene in order for them to go underground and rescue their loved ones and colleagues.
They alleged that no one was trapped underground but that the zama zamas (as illegal miners are known) didn't want to come out for fear of being arrested. According to them, there were routes underground known only to them, and that a rescue team would not be able to access them.
“They’re not doing anything to help. Give us masks and kits and we will go ourselves,” shouted one man.
“What happens if this takes long, like in Lily Mine? We are worried, that is our family down there,” said another family member.
Gauteng police spokesperson Kay Makhubele asked the relatives to bear with the rescue teams as they were doing their best. The rescue teams were then led into the mine by a team of zama zamas.
After several hours of back and forth discussions, zama zama leaders and families finally decided that they would wait for the rescue teams to resume operations and assist them with it.
On Monday night, Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Synock Matobako said the rescue mission would continue until late into the night.
SEE MORE PICS: #Langlaagte miners brought to safety
Earlier in the day, three miners who resurfaced from underground were arrested. This had prompted a relative of one of the men to cry bitterly. Clutching her baby, the woman wailed as she followed the police officers escorting the men by foot to Langlaagte police station. She begged them to release him.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Zimbabwean community in South Africa, Nicholas Mabena, urged families to co-operate with rescue personnel. “It is dangerous down there. We appealed to our people to be patient and not attempt to rescue the families themselves as they had suggested.”
Makhubele confirmed that seven zama zamas had been arrested at the scene since Sunday.
Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who visited the mine on Monday, asked the families of the miners to be responsible. “We are urging you to please work together with us.”
Minerals Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, arriving at #Langlaagte for #TrappedMiners @AfriNewsAgency pic.twitter.com/f98Al1JfRA
— Sphelele (@SpheDludla) September 12, 2016
Zwane added that more than 800 zama zamas had been arrested this year, with over 200 holes closed by the department and mining companies in order to curb illegal access to disused mines.