Around the gaping shaft of a disused mine, the South African police on Saturday waited to pounce on anyone trying to escape ...

Officials are blocking access to basic supplies for hundreds of people underground in a northwest mine shaft as part of a crackdown on miners.

A South African court on Saturday ordered an end to the police blockade of a former gold mine, where hundreds, possibly ...

South Africa's government says it won't help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West ...

South Africa's government says it will let thousands of illegal miners starve until they accept their fate and emerge from an ...

A court says emergency workers must be allowed to enter a mine where hundreds are thought to be without food and water.

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

The South African government has refused to help an estimated 4,000 miners illegally occupying an underground mine in Stilfontein, attempting to “smoke them out” and crack down on illegal mining.

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

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

Desperate families of illegal miners trapped in a closed mine in South Africa await their return. The miners, seeking gold, ...

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