By Johnathan Paoli
The Mining Affected Communities Unified in Action (Macau) has welcomed the North Gauteng High Court’s ruling that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and his department breached the interim court order allowing the provision of humanitarian aid to the trapped miners in Stilfontein.
Macau spokesperson Magnificent Mndebele said Lawyers for Human Rights, representing the organisation, brought the urgent application on Tuesday afternoon.
This followed police members stationed in Stilfontein placing arbitrary limitations on the quantity of food that community members could lower down to the miners as well as the frequency of the aid.
“This clearly demonstrates the state’s apprehensiveness and predisposition in how they use starvation and deprivation of food as tools for law enforcement,” Mndebele said.
Additionally, certain essential food items, including maize meal, canned fish and soup, were barred from being lowered down at all without any explanation.
Judge Janse van Nieuwenhuizen made an interim order on Sunday, calling on the police and other government departments to allow community members, charitable organisations and interested persons within two hours of the ruling, to provide humanitarian aid in an orderly manner to the miners.
During the hearing, the defendants, which included the community safety MEC, the ministers of Minerals and Petroleum Resources, Social Development and Co-operative Governance, as well as the Buffelsfontein and Harmony Gold mining companies, argued a misinterpretation of the court order.
However, the judge dismissed the defence, ruling that Mchunu was in breach by imposing limitations on the court order on the type and amount of food as well as medicine and batteries to be delivered to the miners.
She ordered that the sheriff of the court be allowed to assist with the implementation of the court order, pending the finalisation of the application.
Mndebele said authorities have attempted to re-frame the unfolding humanitarian crisis into a crime matter and mask the state’s intention of depriving poor community members the right to be economically viable through the mineral resources that belonged to the people.
“We remain resolute that the sector needs to be regulated and monitored so that an incident like Stilfontein never happens again,” the spokesperson said.
The illegal miners are starving. It’s believed that six of them have died so far. The body of a miner was brought to surface on Tuesday.
The final application is expected to be heard in Pretoria on Thursday.
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