The government in South Africa says it will not help about 4,000 miners inside an illegal closed mine in the country's North West province as part of an official policy against illegal mining. The miners in the mineshaft in Stilfontein are believed to be suffering from a lack of food,

An estimated 4,000 illegal gold miners are hiding underground in South Africa after the government cut off food and water in an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them. The miners have been in a mineshaft in Stilfontein,

South Africa's government says it will let thousands of illegal miners starve until they accept their fate and emerge from an abandoned shaft to face arrest.

South Africa's government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.

Several hundred people are believed to remain in an illegal mine in South Africa after the government cut off vital supplies and refused to help them, in a dramatic bid to crack down on the industry.

Officials are hoping the strategy will force the workers out of the mineshaft and to the surface, where they will be arrested.