SURVIVORS who were trapped in one of the deepest gold mines in South Africa have spoken out about turning to cannibalism to survive.
The illegal gold miners had been trapped in the abandoned Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, 150km from Johannesburg.
During a confrontation with the police, hundreds of men were stranded underground for almost nine months, around a mile deep. In a harrowing turn of events, some individuals resorted to amputating the limbs of their fellow workers to sustain themselves.
Recently, rescuers made a grim discovery of 78 deceased individuals and successfully evacuated 246 survivors from the confines of the mine. Shockingly, two survivors have come forward to recount the extreme actions they were compelled to take in order to endure the ordeal.
Speaking to The Telegraph, two weak survivors quietly revealed that many of the men turned to cannibalism to not die of starvation.
One said that police prevented their access to food and water, and that some of his fellow miners “resorted to cannibalism.”
The man who refused to be named said: “They cut parts of legs, arms, and ribs for sustenance.
“They decided it was their only remaining option for survival.”
While the survivor said he himself did not resort to such a taboo act for survival, he and another survivor said that they had to eat cockroaches.
A rescuer who spoke to the BBC revealed more about the horrific conditions underground that mean he will no longer eat meat.
He found rotting bodies after entering the mine and also made claims of cannibalism.
One survivor shared, “The stench coming from those bodies was overwhelming… I was informed that some miners were forced to resort to cannibalism within the mine as there were no alternatives for sourcing food.”
“And they were also eating cockroaches.”
The two survivors who have spoken out both entered the mine in July 2024 to work on supplying those below with more food and drink using ropes.
This saw them earn around £400 per month, according to The Telegraph, money they say they hoped to use for driving licenses and security guard certificates.
The blockading of food by police started in August in an attempt to “smoke out” the illegal miners who enter disused gold mines to try and profit from the remnants.
Such operations are usually run in the confusing underground maze by armed criminal gangs, the police said, which made it too dangerous for them to go in and confront them.
While over 1,300 miners willingly came out of the disused mine, the authorities cracked down on those left, but always claimed they could make their own way out.
During the months-long stand-off it was further claimed by officials that those who stayed underground were attempting to avoid arrest and deportation.
However, several agencies and groups, including unions argued that the remaining miners were too weak due to the food blockade to make their own way out and so needed help.
Courts eventually ordered aid to be sent, which saw a mining company haul scores of body bags and emaciated miners to the surface.
Images from the rescue showed miners on the brink of death being pulled out on stretchers after being found too weak to move on their own.
The rescuer told the BBC: “They were very dehydrated and had lost weight so we managed to fit more into the cage, because they wouldn’t have survived another two days down in the hole.Â
“They would be dead if we didn’t get them out as soon as possible.
“Those people were desperate for help, they were dying.”
“I have to tell you, I am traumatised. I will never forget the sight of these people for the rest of my life,” he added.
Rescuers could fit 13 emaciated men into a cage designed to hold just seven due to their condition.Â
Those who died are believed to have done so from dehydration or starvation, Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action Group (MACUA) said.
The government has been accused of carrying out a “massacre” with politicians calling for an investigation.
One of the country’s largest trade union federations called it “one of the most horrific displays of state wilful negligence in recent history.”
Despite the criticism, the government’s mining minister Gwede Mantashehe said: “If you go to a dangerous place such as a neglected mine and stay there for about three months, starving yourself to death, how does that become the responsibility of the state?”
Further criticism has been levelled at the authorities after corrupt police officers helped the supposed kingpin of the entire Buffelsfontein operation escape custody.
James Neo Tshaeli from Lesotho who is alleged to have run the illegal operation is also said to be responsible for deaths, assaults, and torture at the mine.
Tshaeli, known as “Tiger,” also allegedly kept food away from his workers, but the two miners who spoke to The Telegraph said he was “brutal” in his treatment of the miners.
The pair have been charged with illegal mining and possession of gold and are now on bail.
Police have not commented specifically on the cannibalism claims but told the outlet that the investigation would look into all avenues.
