BLOEMFONTEIN – The case against 22 illegal miners arrested at a Welkom gold mine was postponed in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, Free State police said on Monday.
The matter was postponed to September 26 for a formal bail application, Captain Stephen Thakeng said.
The illegal miners were arrested at Harmony Gold’s Eland shaft on Friday. Another two were found dead.
On Saturday, the South African National Civic Organisation called on authorities to intensify the crackdown on unlawful mining operations.
"Mining houses should be held accountable for their failure to rehabilitate abandoned mines and for illegal activities that are claiming the lives of desperate miners who are lured to death traps by ruthless crime syndicates," spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu said.
"Someone must account as to why the slaughter field was not shut down permanently, and those behind the illegal mining activities brought to book."
The miners are from Lesotho and Zimbabwe, Rustenburg, Klerksdorp, Soweto, Springs, Pretoria, Bekkersdal, Evaton and Welkom.