THE Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa has reportedly dispatched a team of forensic experts and other professionals to collaborate with the host government to verify the nationality of victims of the Stilfontein mine disaster.
This follows the death of 87 artisanal miners at Buffelsfontein Mine in Stilfontein, North West Province, while some others were rescued alive.
The identities of the deceased are yet to be confirmed but there is a strong belief some could be Zimbabwean nationals after some survivors turned out to be Zimbabaweans.
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, David Hamadziripi, told State media that a contingent of verifiers has already started work.
“The Embassy wishes to inform members of the public that it is working closely with the South African government to identify and verify the nationalities of the alleged Zimbabwe nationals retrieved from the Buffelsfontein Mine in Stilfontein, North West Province under the on-going rescue operations,” said the Ambassador in a statement.
“Further to screening the 465 alleged undocumented Zimbabwe nationals currently in South African Police Service (SAPS) custody, the Embassy is seeking to establish whether there are any Zimbabwe nationals among 87 deceased individuals retrieved at the shaft, whose identities and nationalities are yet to be established.”
The embassy seeks to identify the deceased individuals through Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing of relatives.
Hamadziripi called on Zimbabweans who have reason to believe that their relatives might be part of the rescued group of individuals in Stilfontein to urgently contact the Consulate in Johannesburg.
“The Government of Zimbabwe is working on arrangements on how to assist with the repatriation of remains positively identified as Zimbabwe nationals,” Hamadziripi was quoted saying.
The country’s consul-general in Johannesburg, Eria Phiri, said so far, 10 Zimbabweans who were rescued had appeared in court and were fined R15 000 (or six months in jail) wholly suspended sentence for illegal mining.
The group has since been deported to Zimbabwe.
He revealed that those rescued will undergo interviews to find out if there are any other Zimbabweans among those who may have died in the mineshaft.
The illegal miners were recently trapped underground and most of them chose to stay underground fearing arrest when they came out of the mineshaft. – (New Zimbabwe)
