North West Acting Police Commissioner Patrick Asaneng has confirmed that all the illegal miners at the Buffelsfontein mine in Stilfontein have been successfully evacuated.

On Monday, police in the province along with mine rescue services, entered the third and final phase to retrieve illegal miners.

Rescue volunteers conducted a final sweep of the mine shafts this morning.

VIDEO | Community volunteers who assisted in retrieval process share their experiences.

246 illegal miners resurfaced and 78 bodies were retrieved this week.

#sapsHQ [UPDATE – Stilfontein] #IllegalMining
A total of 246 alive illegal miners have been retrieved and arrested since Monday, 13 January 2025. 78 have been certified dead.

A breakdown of nationalities of those arrested are as follows:
Mozambicans: 128
Lesotho: 80… pic.twitter.com/ojKmx3IwIv

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) January 16, 2025

Briefing the media in Stilfontein, Asaneng says operation Vala Umgodi will continue.

“There are no longer people – alive or corpses that are still underground to be extracted. We consulted with the mine rescue services who assured us that today they will also do their own mop-up operations. In so far as the operation is concerned, we are continuing, not only at Shaft 11 but in all the areas where illegal mining is taking place.”

VIDEO | Asaneng says officials says they will continue monitoring Shaft 11 in Stilfontein.