Rescuers lugged heavy equipment underground for kilometres, abseiled, waded through flooded tunnels and finally gave up searching on Tuesday for a man who fell in an abandoned mine near Barberton.
”We went through hell the last three or four days,” said Inspector Danie Theron, of the White River police search-and-rescue unit.
”We know who we’re looking for, we just don’t know where to find him. He’s definitely missing,” said team leader Christo de Klerk, general manager of Mines Rescue Services (MRS).
”The moment we get more information we will come back.”
The search for Toyisapari Isaac Dhliwayo (54), originally from Zimbabwe, started on Monday last week when another man was taken to hospital after breaking his leg in a disused section of Sheba mine, owned by Barberton Mines.
The two were illegally mining for gold.
Theron was called in two days later and, realising the need for specialists, called MRS. Volunteers from the Evander Gold Mine and Syferfontein Colliery also helped.
Nine rescuers searched a maze of tunnels.
”It was an absolute logistical nightmare,” said De Klerk.
The team spent a day bringing in light equipment to the inaccessible mountainside site, then found they needed more.
A police helicopter was used to fly heavy equipment in on Saturday.
It took a day to lug the equipment about 1,2km into the unstable, unsafe mine. Vertical shafts opened from the tunnel floors.
”We had to build bridges over four vertical shafts to get in,” said Theron.
They reached the 80m shaft where Dhliwayo reportedly fell and lowered a rescuer.
”When he got to the bottom of the shaft there was no body there,” said Theron.
The rescuer had to remove his safety lines to explore more tunnels, which opened off the shaft bottom.
They were guided by a man who claimed to have seen Dhliwayo’s body. On Sunday, he led them in another way, through the working mine. Here they climbed up two levels, each 80m, along rusted ladders.
”Then we got to the old tunnel. We had to go through waist-high water, passing off-shoot tunnels,” said Theron. He could not use his dog as it was too dangerous.
Eventually they realised their guide had not seen the body himself.
”It was absolute hearsay. We decided we were not going to endanger our lives until we’ve got more information,” said De Klerk.
”The people who were with this guy when he fell aren’t willing to come forward because they’re scared of being prosecuted,” said Theron.
They are also believed to be afraid of the syndicates to which they sell the gold.
”We’ve travelled more than 50km … walking and climbing,” said De Klerk.
”The mine is so old we’ve got absolutely no information … there’s no maps, nothing.”
Theron said they were told the illegal miners lived underground for days, climbing down shafts by holding onto waterpipes and using small pieces of rope.
”The ropes we found were at the point of breaking. They climb down vertical drops of 100m at a time, holding onto cables.
”Locals said to us [that] there is more than one body lying in the mines there. If someone gets injured they just leave him there.”
Barberton Mines general manager Tony de Beer said the company had tried to block off the abandoned workings — about 400 openings. Some last worked 50 years ago.
”Sheba and Consort are two of the few mines in South Africa where there’s visible gold … pure gold that is stuck to the rock,” said De Beer.
”Illegals would be able to chip the gold off and crush it, smelt it and it would be pure gold.”
He said eight or nine illegal miners had been injured this year.
”The poor guy is just trying to earn a living, but at the same time it’s a big problem for us.” — Sapa