File: This aerial view shows an open mine shaft where artisanal miners get access to the mine in Stilfontein. AFP
JOHANNESBURG - Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe says his department is not obliged to rehabilitate old and disused mines.
He made the comments during his appearance at the SAHRC's inquiry into artisanal mining.
Mantashe said they continue to close disused mines systematically.
The issue of illegal mining has been long-standing, leaving communities dispersed.
Previously, crime expert Mike Bolhuis told eNCA how unemployment and poverty were the main reasons people turned to illegal mining.
Often, illegal miners would spend weeks, sometimes months on end, underground.
At the time Bolhuis said these are sophisticated syndicates that, even now, remain faceless.
He detailed how it all starts when a mine comes to a standstill.
From there, the equipment and infrastructure are looted, and, over a period of time, a mine shaft gets taken over.
The operation then expands until the syndicate is in control of a large underground area.
In the Sporong informal settlement, hundreds of families fled their homes and had to be sheltered inside the Randgate community hall.
They fled after what they describe as relentless violence linked to illegal mining.
READ | Illegal mining violence forces hundreds of Sporong families into shelter
The situation did not prove any better in Bapong as criminals have dug trenches close to homes.
To date Stilfontein saga remains one of the biggest stories relating to illegal mining takedown operations.
A total of 78 bodies were retrieved from underground, and 246 illegal minerswere rescued alive.
Police had descended on the mine, cutting off the supply of food and water.
This forced the miners to the surface, where they were subsequently arrested.
In this joint operation, over 1,000 illegal miners have been arrested in Stilfontein.
Social Development has defended its delayed response to the illegal mining crisis at Stilfontein.
Minister Sisisi Tolashe, who was also speaking at the inquiry, said officials couldn’t enter the mine, as it was a crime scene.
She says the department will review policies that limited their response.