A suspected gang leader, known as “Tiger,” escaped police custody after being rescued from an illegal gold mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, where at least 78 miners died last week. The South African police confirmed the escape on Monday.
According to national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, the Lesotho national emerged from the deep mine shaft surrounded by officers and was supposed to be transported directly to the nearest police station. However, during a routine inspection, a senior officer discovered that “Tiger” was not in the holding cells.
“The only logical conclusion is that someone let him free,” Mathe told public broadcaster SABC. “Preliminary investigations indicate that he was let go between Shaft 11 and the police station.”
The police have launched a manhunt and are investigating who within their ranks might have facilitated the escape. Mathe added that three other suspected ringleaders remain in custody.
The police have faced criticism for their prolonged siege of the illegal mine, during which food and water supplies were cut off in an effort to force the miners out and arrest them.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana defended the state, asserting it should not bear responsibility for the fatalities.
“You have got people who voluntarily entered mines and did some illegal activities and in the process died inside those mines. To then come back and say the state is going to take the blame for that, in my view, is misplaced,” Godongwana told Reuters at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The siege ended with a state-sponsored rescue operation that retrieved 246 survivors, many of whom were severely weakened by hunger. Police stated that miners reported food was available underground but controlled by gang leaders.
Illegal gold mining is widespread in South Africa, with thousands of individuals, including illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries, reportedly working in abandoned industrial mines. Police believe these operations are managed by gangs based in Lesotho.t they have come to do.
