Several hundred people are believed to remain in an illegal mine in South Africa after the government cut off vital supplies ...

A community rescue effort to help illegal miners trapped in a mine shaft in South Africa emerged after police said they ...

The South African government says it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to ...

South African police were in a standoff on Thursday with hundreds of illegal miners believed to be underground in a disused ...

South Africa’s government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country’s North ...

Senzo Mchunu's comments seem more conciliatory than those of a cabinet minister who previously said the government would not send help because they were "criminals".

Illegal miners — known locally as Zama Zama — are often men from neighboring countries who come to South Africa without the ...

Illegal miners are called "zama zama" ("take a chance" in Zulu) and operate in abandoned mines in the mineral-rich country.

Operation Vala Umgodi task team in the North West province has reiterated the call to those illegal miners who are still underground in the Stilfontein area, to return to the surface.

The miners in a mineshaft in Stilfontein are believed to be suffering from a lack of food, water and other basic necessities.

Officials are hoping the strategy will force the workers out of the mineshaft and to the surface, where they will be arrested ...

Illegal mining continues to be widespread in South Africa, where miners enter abandoned shafts to search for remaining ...