More illegal miners rescued in South Africa amid police crackdown

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Authorities on Thursday confirmed that 16 illegal miners were rescued in the past 24 hours from an old mine shaft in Sabie, a small town in Mpumalanga Province, eastern South Africa, where they were trapped while conducting illegal mining activities.

"The increase in illegal mining activities in seven hotspot provinces, which include Mpumalanga where we are now and North West Province where we are heading to later this afternoon, called for an immediate integrated and multidisciplinary approach to put a stop to these illicit mining activities," South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner Sehlahle Fannie Masemola said.