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

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 ...

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

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 ...

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

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

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.

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 ...