South African mine standoff raises questions about basic human needs access
Human-rights watchdog looks into three-month supply cut-off at abandoned gold mine. Authorities try new method to remove under-ground miners near Johannesburg
South African officials use non-standard ways to deal with under-ground mining issues at old Stilfontein site (located bout 90 miles from Johannesburg). Their approach — cutting-off food water and medical supplies to those inside — started this summer as part of nation-wide clean-up plan
The South African Human Rights Commission started checking reports about harsh treatment at the former gold-mining spot. Officials blocked basic supplies to shaft-dwelling people for roughly three months‚ which became part of their “Vala Umgodi“ anti-illegal mining work. This caused wide-spread talks about proper ways to handle such cases
The mine-shaft goes deeper than a mile below ground‚ making it hard to control whats happening down there. Local authorities think blocking supplies will make people come up — but rights groups say its not right to deny anyone basic needs; even if theyʼre doing something wrong
