🇿🇦 South African court orders the police to unblock exits from a Gauteng mine with illegal miners, reports say⚖️ The High Court in South Africa's Gauteng province has ruled that police must unblock all exits from a mine near the town of Stilfontein, where illegal mining suspects are hiding, to allow emergency personnel access to miners who refuse to come out for fear of arrest and deportation, local media reported.
The ruling follows an urgent appeal to the court by the Society for the Protection of our Constitution, which argued that the actions of the police, including the prohibition on giving the miners underground food and water, constitute a violation of their human rights and are prohibited by the South African constitution.
Judge Brenda Neukircher, who announced the court's decision on a local radio program, stressed that the mine could not be blocked by "by any person or institution whether government or private."
"In the context of Stilfontein illegal mining operation, the term ‘trapped’ is not applicable. The illegal miners voluntarily entered the mine shaft with criminal intent and are currently evading arrest. They disregard all efforts to get them to resurface, electing not to do so," the South African Criminal Justice System press office said in a statement on X.Subscribe to @sputnik_africa
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