'They are starving': illegal miners in South Africa standoff battle to survive - Video

Hundreds of illegal miners, known as zama zamas, are trapped underground amid a heavy police operation aimed at evicting them.

Ayanda Ndabeni, a 30-year-old miner who managed to escape the shaft last Friday, described the grim conditions faced by those still trapped. "There's nothing left to eat or drink underground. We have nothing to survive on," Ndabeni told AFP.

"Some of us have died down there, others are critically ill." A decomposed body was brought up last week, and local sources suggest there may be more casualties.

Ndabeni, who spent two months working deep in the mine, said about 800 men were working on the level where he toiled, although some reports claim as many as 4,000 miners are still underground.

The miners are part of a larger network of zama zamas—clandestine miners who operate in abandoned shafts throughout South Africa’s mineral-rich regions. Many of them, like Ndabeni, turned to illegal mining after formal job opportunities dried up. Ndabeni started mining in 2014 when the legitimate mine where he worked closed down, leaving him without work.

He, like many others, had no choice but to risk his life by digging in the abandoned shaft.

The situation has become dire as police, stationed outside the mine, have blocked local residents from sending food and water to those trapped underground. Despite a court ruling on Saturday ordering the police to lift all restrictions, access to supplies has been limited.

Only on the day of the court order were locals able to lower 600 packets of instant porridge and 600 litres of water to the miners, the first aid delivery since Tuesday.