South African police on Tuesday detained 269 illegal miners as they left a disused gold mine after security forces cut off their food and water supplies, adding to 565 rounded up at the weekend.The new arrests take to 834 the number of clandestine miners arrested at Stilfontein, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, in a fresh police crackdown.”We have more than 269″ miners, police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone told AFP.Police on Sunday had said that 565 clandestine miners emerged “as a result of starvation and dehydration” after security agencies blocked routes used by their accomplices to deliver food and water to the pit.Locally known as “zama zamas” — “those who try” in the Zulu language — the miners frustrate mining companies and are accused of criminality by residents.The police operation was ongoing on Tuesday and more miners could still resurface.Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, said on Sunday that more than 13,691 suspected illegal miners have been arrested in seven provinces since December 2023.”We have seized five million rand (around $283,000) in cash and uncut diamonds worth 32 million rand (around $1.8 million),” said Sibiya.Thousands of illegal miners, many of them hailing from other countries, operate in the mineral-rich nation, living and working in arduous conditions.
