Paupers’ burials for 30 Stilfontein ‘zama zamas’

Nearly 80 suspected illegal miners, mostly from neighbouring Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Mozambique, were extracted from shaft 11 at the disused Buffelsfontein gold mine in January.

A police anti-illicit mining operation (Vala Umgodi)  at the abandoned Buffelsfontein mine between October and January saw the arrest of nearly 2000 illegal miners, and the extraction of the deceased miners.

READ:Final sweep of disused Stilfontein mine shaft

Health spokesperson Tshegofatso Mothibedi says the deceased were buried in the Klerksdorp area.

“We can confirm that 30 bodies have been successfully buried this morning in Kanana and Stilfontein. This number is from the initial 78 that were extracted from the disused mine in Stilfontein earlier this year.  We have also successfully handed over about 25 bodies to their loved ones and communities after they were positively matched through our DNA testing.”

He says the remaining unidentified bodies will be buried at the end of the month.

“We anticipate that the remaining bodies will be buried in the last week of June, following [the completion] of all the documentation that is outstanding, including the death certificates from the Home Affairs Department,” Mothibedi added.

He repeated the department’s call for families who still suspect that their loved ones were amongst those extracted from the mine to identify and claim them.

Mothebedi says affected families can still claim their loved ones who have been buried by the state, despite the mass funerals being concluded. 

“Before continuing with the mass funerals, we extract DNA, which we then archive so that when anyone comes forward to claim a body later, we can bring out the sample and test it. Once we receive a positive result, we are able to exhume the bodies.”

Meanwhile, authorities in the province have confirmed that the abandoned shafts have been sealed.

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