Members of the South African Police Service SAPS and the South African National Defence Force SANDF are today expected to start the second phase of an operation to bring to surface illegal miners still underground at Shaft 11 of the Stilfontein mine in the North West.
The aim is to determine the number of illegal mineworkers who are still underground and plan to bring them to the surface on Monday.
Yesterday, police in the province raised concerns over incidents of extortion targeting contractors working to clear the site.
Meanwhile, the families of some of the illegal miners are pleading with government to retrieve their loved ones from underground.
Community representatives are still adamant that there are thousands of illegal miners underground, who have to be retrieved, whilst government has refuted that.
