JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- South African Police Service (SAPS) has launched a manhunt for an alleged illegal mining ringleader who is believed to have escaped after resurfacing from the Stilfontein gold mine in the North West Province of South Africa.
Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West Patrick Asaneng on Monday instructed officers to use "maximum resources" to trace the suspect who remains at large and vowed to hold those responsible for allowing the kingpin to evade custody.
According to SAPS National Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, the wanted individual, James Neo Tshoaeli, known as "Tiger," was a Lesotho national extracted alongside other miners last week but was never booked into any police station.
The illegal miners, who had been underground since August last year, accused Tshoaeli of hoarding food supplies intended for everyone. "The suspect has been fingered in several statements as one of the ring leaders who controlled operations underground. He was also accused of being responsible for some deaths, abuse, and attacks on the illegal miners," said Mathe.
Meanwhile, the process of identifying 87 bodies of illegal miners, including the 78 recovered last week, was underway, according to North West Health Department Spokesperson Tshegofatso Mothibedi.
Mothibedi told Xinhua that some of the bodies were in a "mortified state," adding that there was no timeline for how long it could take to identify the bodies, as the majority of the illegal miners were foreigners. Mothibedi said once the police have completed their investigations, including the collection of DNA, fingerprints, and photographs, they would require someone to identify them. ■