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, in the North West province, for about a month.

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,