At least 14 suspected illegal miners have been killed and eight others injured after the walls of an excavation collapsed at a dumping site in South Africa’s North West province, the authorities have said.

The suspected ‘zama zamas’ – a local term for illegal miners – were digging for platinum-group metals at Nkaneng, near the mining city of Rustenburg, when walls of heaped earth gave way on Monday night, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement. Police said a company had been granted a permit to extract the metals at the site.

“[The] authorities are continuing to assess the situation amid concerns that an unknown number of illegal miners may still be trapped underground,” North West provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Arthur Adams said.
According to the commissioner, most of the dead are believed to be Basotho nationals from neighboring Lesotho.

SAPS said three of the injured were arrested on suspicion of illegal mining after being discharged from hospital, while five remained under police guard as they received treatment.

The site lies in the heart of South Africa’s platinum belt, about 130 km northwest of Johannesburg.

Mikateko Mahlaule, chairman of the parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources, called the deaths a “painful reminder” of the hazards surrounding illegal mining and demanded stronger action against the industry. He also urged the authorities to expand lawful opportunities for small-scale and artisanal miners while enforcing health, safety, and environmental rules.

Illegal miners in South Africa are commonly called zama zamas, a Zulu expression loosely translated as ‘chance takers’. Tens of thousands are believed to work in abandoned commercial mines or makeshift excavations, often without safety equipment and sometimes underground for weeks. The authorities have linked parts of the illicit industry to criminal syndicates, gang violence, undocumented migration and illegal firearms.

South Africa launched operation Vala Umgodi (Close the Hole) in December 2023 to target illegal mining networks. The campaign is led by SAPS, with 2,200 South African National Defense Force personnel deployed in March 2026 to support operations across five provinces, including North West. As of June 2025, police said the operation had led to more than 27,000 arrests.

The latest Nkaneng deaths follow several mass-casualty incidents linked to illicit mining. In 2023, at least 31 suspected illegal miners died in a methane explosion at a disused mine in Free State province. At least 87 miners also died during a months-long standoff at an abandoned gold mine near Stilfontein in late 2024 and early 2025.

Police restricted supplies to force the miners to surface, prompting fierce criticism of the authorities. A court-ordered operation eventually recovered 78 bodies and brought 246 survivors above ground.