Upwards of 4,000 illegal miners are believed to be inside an abandoned shaft in the country's North West province. A government minister warned, "we are going to smoke them out." South Africa's government says it is not willing to help around 4,

Operation Vala Umgodi task team in the North West province has reiterated the call to those illegal miners who are still underground in the Stilfontein area, to return to the surface.