The police have cut off food and water to miners for weeks in a bid to force them out of an abandoned mine. Human rights advocates and community leaders call the tactics inhumane.

The South African government said on Friday it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to surface illegal miners who remain under a disused gold mine. The move signaled the government was taking a more conciliatory approach compared to earlier this week,

A community rescue effort to help illegal miners trapped in a mine shaft in South Africa emerged after police said they wouldn't help.