They know that some of them will get arrested and some will die, they just hope to be neither. Abandoned mineshafts have long turned into underground cities. There's so much poverty on the surface, to escape it, illegal miners can spend months underground digging up gold and selling it on the black market. Survival - what a disgusting beast you can be.

But their hopes came caving in as the illegal miners and undocumented migrants, said to be in their thousands, are stranded underground in a disused mine shaft in Stilfontein, near Klerksdorp in the North West province, after police cut off food and water in an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them.

A decomposed body of an illegal miner was brought up to the surface at the old mine. Over a thousand illegal miners have since emerged in recent days, only to climb up into the hands of waiting police and members of the South African Defence Forces who arrested them. The majority of whom are South Africans, Mozambicans, and Basotho nationals.

Since the inception of Operation Vala Umgodi in December 2023, police have arrested almost 14,000 suspects in the seven provinces that are hotspots for illegal mining. They have seized R5 million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million.

Gold and diamonds carry a rhythm that lures men underground and holds them captive. The veins of the earth, mined until they are hollowed out, seem to whisper promises that only end in loss through a cycle of the earth swallowing dreams, the miners emerging like ghosts from their subterranean prison, and the echoes of pickaxes fading as hope continues to crumble.

Survival—what a cunning and unrelenting beast it is. It gnaws at the belly, sinking its teeth into those who are desperate enough to face the shadows below.

The ground has become both provider and grave. In its cold embrace, fortunes are fought for and lives are lost. Thousands are still down there, breathing in darkness.

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni on Wednesday said: “We are not sending help to criminals, we are going to smoke them out.” This is a line drawn in the sand, the government has decided that the price of justice can be letting the earth itself become a silent judge, jury, and executioner, sealing away life beneath its weight.

Yes, arrest the criminals, but such a statement blurs the lines between justice and punishment. We are left to wonder: is it right to deny aid to human beings, no matter the crimes they are accused of? Are we witnessing the defence of our nation’s resources or the abandonment of its most desperate people? The question hangs heavy, like dust in the air of those mine shafts, refusing to settle.

For now, thousands remain underground, trapped between a rock and a cruel policy. The world above debates their fate, but below, shadows are grasping for another chance at life.