Surviving on a diet of toothpaste and toilet paper, South Africa's notorious "zama-zama" illegal miners continue a weeks-long standoff with police in the darkness of a disused gold mine.

South African authorities are embroiled in a standoff with an unconfirmed number of illegal miners who remain underground at an abandoned mine, apparently fearing arrest by police officers at the site.

Illegal artisanal gold mining in South Africa is in the spotlight again. Under Operation Vala Umgodi ("plug the hole"), South African authorities have since December 2023 been trying to disrupt the illicit gold mining economy by cutting off water,

The police have cut off food and water to miners for weeks in a bid to force them out of an abandoned mine. Human rights advocates and community leaders call the tactics inhumane.

Estimated hundreds of illegal miners are still being trapped underground in South Africa's North West province after a court has ordered police to let them leave. For weeks, authorities had blocked supply lines of food and water to force the miners out.

South African authorities are embroiled in a standoff with an unconfirmed number of illegal miners who remain underground at an abandoned mine, apparently fearing arrest by police officers deployed at the site.