The application sought to compel government departments, including Saps, to extract the illegal miners from underground.


A system of pulleys and ropes installed by members of the South Africa Police Service is set up over an entrance to a disused gold mine shaft in Stilfontein, around 150 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg, South Africa, 17 November 2024. A South African court has ordered the lifting of a police blockade of the abandoned gold mine, in which people are illegally located. Police had blocked the mine in an attempt to force the people inside to exit. Picture: EPA-EFE/STRINGER
The North Gauteng High Court has dismissed an application by the Society for the Protection of our Constitution to seek final relief for the illegal miners still underground at Stilfontein, North West.
The NGO had approached the court in a bid to compel various government departments including the South African Police Service (Saps) to provide all necessary emergency disaster relief to illegal miners underground by providing food, water, medical aid, blankets, and any such medical relief necessary.
The application also compelled government departments including Saps to extract the alleged trapped miners from underground.
The court dismissed the application.
This is a developing story.